The fourth toe is longer than the others, a condition that we do not
find in any of the woodpeckers not strictly arboreal; the tail is of the
improved pattern, holding by a brush of bristles rather than by one
stiff point at the end of each feather; the bill is heavier, broader at
the base, more heavily ridged, and in every way a stronger tool; and the
tongue is highly extensible and of the spear pattern, sharp-pointed and
barbed with recurved hooks. Everything about these birds indicates that
they are fitted to live on tree-trunks and to dig for borers. This,
indeed, is what they do.
But the great logcock and the ivory-billed woodpecker, though of the
same type as the other larvae-eating woodpeckers, are more highly
developed along the same line. We notice the great strength of the
feet; the claws, as large and as sharp as a cat's; the enormous weight
and strength of the bill, compared with that of the other woodpeckers,
which enables them to cut into the hardest wood and even into frozen
green timber; and the great development of the tail, which now becomes a
strong spring to support and aid the bird in his work.
As we try to group these particulars under general heads, we see that we
have observed three things:--
_That the structure of a bird is adapted to its kind of life._
_That the structure varies by small degrees with the kind of life._
_That the kind of life is conditioned largely upon the kind of food and
upon the method of procuring it, more particularly the latter._
These are not so much different truths as three aspects of one truth.
When we study the first we see why birds are grouped together into
orders and families: we study their resemblances. When we observe the
second we see why they are divided into species, for we note their
differences. But when we consider the third and reflect that birds have
the power to choose new kinds of food or new places and means of getting
it, we see how it is that there can come to be new kinds of birds, new
subspecies and species, springing up from time to time. Wonderful and
improbable as it seems, there is more reason to believe than there is to
doubt that new kinds of animals and plants are constantly in process of
making; that the laws of change are constantly at work, adapting
creatures to their surroundings or crushing them out of existence
because they will not learn new ways. And it is probable that these
differences which we mark in the woodpeckers have been the result of
efforts to adapt themselves to a peculiar kind of life where food was
abundant; and also that by acquired habits and by acquired tastes for
different kinds of foods they will be subject to still further
variations in the future.
XVI
THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN
But if the birds are making themselves into new species, where is the
place for God in the universe? Did not God make all kinds of creatures
in the beginning? How can they go on being made without God?
These are questions every one ought to ask, but--did God leave his world
after He had made it and go a long way off? Did He wind it up like a
watch to go till it should run down? Is the world a machine, or is it
alive?
Long ago the wise and good man Socrates argued that if you did not know
there was a God at all, you could at least infer it because everything
was so wonderfully made. "There is our body," said he: "every part of it
so perfect and so reasonable. Consider how the eyes not only please us
with agreeable sensations but are protected in every way. The eyebrows
stand like a thicket to keep the perspiration from them, the lids are a
curtain to shut out too great light, the lashes screen them from
dust,--everything is planned for some wise and reasonable end. And
where the evidence of design is so convincing must we not believe that
there was a Designer?" Words like these he spoke, and we know because
everything is so perfectly contrived that there must have been a
contriver, who knew all from the beginning. We are compelled to believe
that there is a God.
Shall we believe it less because we find in the creatures about us
intelligence and the power to care for their own lives? Has God gone on
a visit because these living creatures are looking out for themselves?
Were they made less perfectly in the beginning because when new
conditions surround them they are able to change to meet the strange
requirements? This is not less evidence of a Designer, but more. It was
long said that the existence of a watch was proof of a watchmaker who
had planned and put together all the parts so that they worked
harmoniously. But if the watch had the power to grow small to fit a
small pocket, or large to fit a large one, to become luminous by night,
and to correct its own time by the sun instead of being regulated by
outside interference, what should we have said--that it was proof there
was no watchmaker? or that it showed a far more skillful one, since he
could make a living, self-regulating, adaptive watch?
And so of the world and the creatures in it. Every evidence we get that
they can care for themselves, that they can adapt themselves to new
conditions, that they are intelligent and reasonable, capable of
improvement in habits or in structure, is so much surer proof that a
wise God made them what they are. Evolution--for that is the name by
which we call these changes--does not take God out of the universe but
makes the need of Him stronger. The argument from design is immensely
strengthened when we consider that we have not only an obedient machine
acting according to a few fundamental rules, but one that is intelligent
also and capable of self-modification.
APPENDIX
_Explanation of Terms._
[Illustration: Head of a Flicker.]
_a._ Forehead; _b._ crown; _c._ occiput; _d._ nape; _e._ chin; _f._
throat; _g._ jaw-patch, or mustache.
_Occipital_ means "on the occiput."
_Nuchal_ means "on the nape."
_Primaries_ are the nine or ten wing-quills borne upon the last
joint of the wing.
_Secondaries_ are the wing-quills attached to the fore-arm bones.
_Tertiaries_ are the wing-quills springing from the upper arm
bones.
_Wing coverts_ are the shorter lines of feathers overlapping these
long quills.
_Tail coverts_ are the lengthened feathers that overlap the root of
the tail both above and below, called respectively upper and under
tail coverts.
_Ear coverts_ are the feathers that over-lie the ear, often
specially modified or colored.
_Rump_, the space between the middle of the back and the root of
the tail.
[M] is the sign used to indicate the male sex.
[F] is the sign used to indicate the female sex.
A _subspecies_ is a geographical race, modified in size, color, or
proportions chiefly by the influence of climate. These variations
are especially marked in non-migratory birds of wide distribution,
subject, therefore, to climatic extremes. The Downy and the Hairy
Woodpeckers, for example, are split up into numerous races. It
should be remembered that when a species has been separated into
races, or subspecies, all the subspecies are of equal rank, even
though they are differently designated. The one originally
discovered and first described bears the old Latin name which
consisted of two words, while the new ones are designated by triple
Latin names--the old binomial and a new name in addition. The
binomial indicates the form first described. The forms designated
by trinomials may be equally well known, abundant, and widely
distributed. For example, among the woodpeckers, the northern form
of the Hairy Woodpecker was first discovered and bears the name
_Dryobates villosus_; but the first Downy Woodpecker described was
a southern bird, and the northern form was not separated until a
few years ago, so that the southern bird is the type, and the
northern one bears the trinomial, _Dryobates pubescens medianus_.
_North America_, by the decision of the American Ornithologists'
Union, is held to include the continent north of the present
boundary between Mexico and the United States, with Greenland, the
peninsula of Lower California, and the islands adjacent naturally
belonging to the same.
The following key and descriptions will enable the student to
identify any woodpecker known to occur within these limits:
A. KEY TO THE WOODPECKERS OF NORTH AMERICA.
Family characteristics: color always striking, usually in spots, bars,
or patches of contrasting colors, especially black and white. Sexes
usually unlike; male always with some portion of red or yellow about
head, throat, or neck. Tails stiff, rounded, composed of ten fully
developed pointed feathers (and two undeveloped feathers). Wings large,
rounded, with long, conspicuous secondaries, and short coverts. Bill
straight, stout, of medium length. Toes four, arranged in pairs, except
in the three-toed genus. Iris brown, except when noted. Marked by a
habit of clinging to upright surfaces and digging a deep hole in a
tree-trunk for nesting. Eggs always pearly white.
I. Very large--18 inches _or more_; conspicuously crested. A. II. Medium
or small--14 inches _or less_; never crested. B.
A. a^1 Bill gleaming _ivory white_; fourth toe decidedly longest.
Ivory-billed Woodpecker. 1.
a^2 Bill _blackish_; fourth toe not decidedly longest.
Pileated Woodpecker or Logcock. 14.
B. a^1 Toes three; [M] with _yellow_ crown.
Three-toed Woodpeckers. 9 & 10.
a^2 Toes four; crown never yellow (b).
b^1 _Not spotted nor streaked either above or below_ (c).
c^1 Body clear black; _head white_.
White-headed Woodpecker. 8.
c^2 Blue-black above; _rump white_; _head_ and _neck red_.
Red-headed Woodpecker. 15.
c^3 Greenish black above, with _pinkish red belly_.
Lewis's Woodpecker. 17.
c^4 Greenish black with _sulphur yellow forehead_ and
_throat._
Californian Woodpecker. 16.
c^5 Glossy blue-black with _scarlet throat_ and _yellow
belly_.
Male of Williamson's Sapsucker. 13.
b^2 _Spotted with black or brown on breast and sides_,
but not streaked nor barred with white (d).
d^1 _Brown_ spots on breast and sides; upper parts plain
brown.
Arizona Woodpecker. 7.
d^2 _Black_ spots on breast and sides; wings and tail
brilliantly colored beneath (e).
e^1 Wings and tail _golden_ beneath; mustaches
_black_ in male, wanting in female.
Flicker. 21.
e^2 Wings and tail _golden_ beneath; mustaches
_red_ in both sexes.
Gilded Flicker. 23.
e^3 Wings and tail _golden red_ beneath; mustaches red.
Red-shafted Flicker. 22.
e^4 Wings and tail _golden red_ beneath; mustaches red;
crown brown.
Guadalupe Flicker. 24.
b^3 _Streaked, spotted, or barred with white on back and wings_ (f).
f^1 _Back streaked_, _plain_, or _varied_, _never_ barred
with white; wings _spotted_ with white (g).
g^1 _Clear_ white and black; _white streak down the
back_ (h).
h^1 Medium size, 9-11 inches.
Hairy Woodpecker. 2.
h^2 Small size, 6-7 inches.
Downy Woodpecker. 3.
g^2 _Grayish_ white and black; _sides closely barred_ (i).
i^1 Back plain black, white _stripe_ down side of throat.
Female of Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. 9.
i^2 Back with interrupted white stripe, white _line_
down side of throat.
Female of American Three-toed Woodpecker. 10.
(NOTE.--The males are similar with the addition
of the yellow crown. The three toes
cannot ordinarily be seen in life.)
g^3 _Yellowish_ (often dingy or smutty), white and black;
under parts yellowish; back varied with white, no
line nor streak; _rump white_; _white wing-bars_ (j).
j^1 Breast with black patch; head of adult with red
patches.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 11.
j^2 Breast and head red.
Red-breasted Sapsucker. 12.
f^2 _Back barred with white_; wings spotted or barred with
white (k).
k^1 Belly _white; ear coverts white_.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker. 4.
k^2 Belly _white; forehead black_.
Nuttall's Woodpecker. 6.
k^3 Belly _smoky brown_; forehead and breast same.
Texan Woodpecker. 5.
k^4 Belly _sulphur or lemon yellow_.
Female of Williamson's Woodpecker. 13.
k^5 Belly _pinkish red_.
Red-bellied Woodpecker. 18.
k^6 Belly _yellow_, hind neck and forehead orange.
Golden-fronted Woodpecker. 19.
k^7 Belly _yellow_, hind neck brown.
Gila Woodpecker. 20.
B. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WOODPECKERS OF NORTH AMERICA.
The following are descriptions of all the species of Woodpeckers found
in North America, arranged in their proper genera and in the order given
in the check list of the American Ornithologists' Union, 1895; with the
range of species and subspecies as defined by the same authority or by
Bendire's "Life Histories of North American Birds."
1. CAMPEPHILUS PRINCIPALIS, _Ivory-billed Woodpecker_.
Glossy black except _white secondaries_ (very conspicuous) and
white stripe from beneath ear down neck and shoulders; white
nasal tufts; _bill white_. Both sexes crested; [M]
with scarlet occipital crest, [F] with crest
black. Iris yellow. 20 inches.
Cypress swamps of Gulf States, locally distributed.
The largest, shyest, and rarest of our woodpeckers.
2. DRYOBATES VILLOSUS, _Hairy Woodpecker_.
Black and white. Upper parts glossy black with a broad _white
stripe_ down the back; wings thickly spotted with white; under
parts white; three outer pairs of tail feathers white; two white
and two black stripes on sides of head; nasal tufts brownish
white. [M] with scarlet occipital patch. 9-10
inches.
Eastern United States except South Atlantic and Gulf
States, with the following subspecies, all the races being
resident the year round, and breeding in most places
where they are found:--
a. _D. v. leucomelas_, _Northern Hairy Woodpecker_. 10-11 inches.
Larger, whiter.
British America.
b. _D. v. audubonii_, _Southern Hairy Woodpecker_. 8-8.5 inches.
Smaller, more dingy white.
South Atlantic and Gulf States.
c. _D. v. harrisii_, _Harris's Woodpecker_. 9-10 inches.
Upper parts with less white, few wing spots, under parts
soiled white or smoky brown; larger than next.
Northwest coast, northern California to Alaska.
d. _D. v. hyloscopus_, _Cabanis's Woodpecker_. 8.5-9.5 inches.
White stripe down back very wide; purer white below than
_harrisii_; fewer wing spots than _leucomelas_ and _villosus_.
Western United States, except northwest coast, east to
the Rocky Mountains.
e. _D. v. monticola_, _Rocky Mountain Woodpecker_. 10-11 inches.
Larger; more white spots near bend of wing and secondaries
than _hyloscopus_, fewer than _villosus_; pure white below.
Rocky Mountains west to Uintah Mountains, Utah.
3. DRYOBATES PUBESCENS, _Southern Downy Woodpecker_.
Black and white; broad _white stripe_ down back; wings thickly
spotted with white; under parts white. [M] with
scarlet occipital patch. A miniature Hairy Woodpecker, differing
only in having _four_ outer pairs of tail feathers more or less
white and the _outermost barred_. 6.5 inches. Like the Hairy
Woodpecker, the Downy and its subspecies are resident and breed
wherever they occur.
South Atlantic and Gulf States.
a. _D. p. gairdnerii_, _Gairdner's Woodpecker_. 6.75 inches.
Bears same relation to Downy that Harris's does to Hairy
Woodpecker; under parts smoky white; wings spots few.
Pacific coast north to about lat. 55 deg.
b. _D. p. oreoecus_, _Batchelder's Woodpecker_. 7.5 inches.
Under parts pure white; under tail coverts unspotted;
fewer wing spots than _medianus_ and _pubescens_.
Rocky Mountain region of United States.
c. _D. p. medianus_, _Downy Woodpecker_. 7 inches.
The larger, whiter form seen in New England and the
Northern States.
d. _D. p. nelsoni_, _Nelson's Downy Woodpecker_.
Whiter, larger, with fewer black bars on outer tail
feathers.
Alaska and region north of 55 deg.
4. DRYOBATES BOREALIS, _Red-cockaded Woodpecker_.
Upper parts black _barred_ with white, under parts dingy white;
sides streaked and spotted with black; wings spotted with white;
outer tail feathers barred; nasal tufts and _large ear patch
white_; stripe of black down side of neck. [M] with
a tiny tuft of scarlet feathers on each side of head. 7.5-8.5
inches.
Pine woods of southeastern United States, from Tennessee
southwest to eastern Texas and the Indian Territory;
casual north to Pennsylvania.
5. DRYOBATES SCALARIS BAIRDI, _Texan Woodpecker_, _Ladder-backed
Woodpecker_.
Upper parts barred with black and white on back, wings,
and outer tail feathers; sides of head striped; forehead,
nasal feathers, and under parts _smoky gray_, brownest on
belly; _crown speckled with white or red_; [M]
with nape crimson. 7-7.5 inches.
Southern border of United States, Texas to California,
north to southwestern Utah and southern Nevada; generally
resident.
a. _D. s. lucasanus_, _St. Lucas Woodpecker_. Larger.
Lower California, north to 34 deg. in Colorado desert.
These are both subspecies of a Mexican species not occurring
within our limits.
6. DRYOBATES NUTTALLII, _Nuttall's Woodpecker_.
Upper parts barred with black and white; under parts and
_outer tail feathers white_ or dingy white; nasal tufts white;
_forehead and crown black sprinkled with white_. [M]
with red on occiput and nape. 7-7.5 inches.
Southern Oregon and California west of Sierra Nevada
and Cascade Ranges; most common in the oak belt of
the foothills.
Easily distinguished from Downy Woodpecker by being
barred on the back, instead of striped.
7. DRYOBATES ARIZONAE, _Arizona Woodpecker_.
_Upper parts plain brown, not spotted nor streaked_; primaries
dotted with fine white dots; outer tail feathers barred;
under parts white, _thickly spotted_ (except throat), _with large,
round, brown spots_. [M] with red occipital band.
7.5-8.5 inches.
Southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico; among
oaks of the foothills from 4000 to 7000 feet elevation.
8. XENOPICUS ALBOLARVATUS, _White-headed Woodpecker_.
Glossy black all over, except showy white patch on primaries,
and _head and throat pure white_ (forehead and crown
sometimes grayish). [M] with broad occipital band of
scarlet. 9 inches. "Iris pinkish red" (Bendire).
Mountains of Pacific coast, east to western Nevada and
western Idaho, usually in the pine and fir forests above
4000 feet altitude.
9. PICOIDES ARCTICUS, _Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker_.
_Glossy black above, unmarked_ except by fine white spots on
primaries; under parts grayish white, sides thickly barred
black and white; three outer pairs of tail feathers white,
sides of throat with broad _white stripe_. [M] with
_large crown patch of deep yellow_. 9.5 inches.
British America, south into the northern tier of States
and into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Lake Tahoe.
Most commonly seen in the track of forest fires, where it
is usually abundant for about two years; rare outside of the
extensive soft wood tracts, and usually found singly or in
pairs except when on burnt land. I have found this species
far more common than the next, and the best mark in life
to be the white _stripe_ on the neck, in distinction from the
white _line_ of _P. americanus_.
10. PICOIDES AMERICANUS, _American Three-toed Woodpecker_.
Very similar to preceding species, but with narrow bars of white
forming an _interrupted stripe down the back_; head thickly
sprinkled with white in both sexes and a white line on nape or
just below; a _white line_, too narrow to be called a stripe,
down side of throat.[M] with _crown bright yellow_.
9 inches. Same range in the East as last; replaced in West by
following subspecies:--
a. _P. a. alascensis_, _Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker_.
Smaller; more white; nape very white; more white on top
of head.
Alaska, south to 48 deg. (Mt. Baker, Washington).
b. _P. a. dorsalis_, _Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker_.
More white on back and head than _P. americanus_, less than
_alascensis_; but continuous, not barred. "Iris dark cherry-red"
(Mearns).
Rocky Mountain region, south to New Mexico and Arizona.
11. SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS, _Yellow-bellied Sapsucker_.
Under parts whitish or pale sulphur yellow; upper parts black,
mottled with pure or yellowish white; _rump white_; wings
spotted, and with conspicuous white coverts; tail black with
_outer webs of outer feathers_ and _inner webs of middle
feathers light colored_; sides streaked; breast with a _broad
black patch_ extending in a "chin-strap" to the corners of the
mouth; sides of the head striped. Occiput black, nape white.
[M] with forehead, crown, chin, and throat crimson;
[F] usually with crown crimson, forehead black,
and throat white, back more brownish; [F]
sometimes, and young always, with crown blackish. 7.5-8.5
inches.
Colors vary much with age, sex, and season; the wing bar
and yellowish tinge are good marks for all plumages; the
rump and breast patch for adult birds.
Eastern North America, breeding from Massachusetts
northward, migrating in winter to the Southern States.
a. _S. v. nuchalis_, _Red-naped Sapsucker_.
Similar, but an additional red stripe on nape, and the black
chin-strap replaced by crimson. 8-8.5 inches.
Rocky Mountains to Coast Range, replacing the above in
the mountains; usually breeding at from 5000 to 10,000
feet elevation.
12. SPHYRAPICUS RUBER, _Red-breasted Sapsucker_.
Body and under parts similar to _S. varius_, but back much
less variegated with white. No black on breast, no white
stripe through eyes. Nasal tufts brownish instead of white.
_Head_, _neck_, and _breast uniform crimson_. _Sexes alike._ Young
with crimson replaced by gray or "claret brown" (Bendire).
8.5-9 inches.
Pacific coast, Sierra Nevada, and on both sides of Cascade
Mountains; a summer resident only north of northern
California.
At first sight the Red-breasted Sapsucker might be mistaken
for the Red-headed Woodpecker, but the two birds
do not inhabit the same country.
13. SPHYRAPICUS THYROIDEUS, _Williamson's Sapsucker_.
Sexes totally dissimilar except in having a white rump and
yellow under parts. _Male, glossy black all over except_
conspicuous _white rump_ and _white wing coverts_, two white
stripes on sides of head, white nasal tufts, white spots on
primaries; sides and tail coverts mottled; a stripe of scarlet
down middle of throat and _brilliant yellow under parts_.
_Female, light brown_; head clear brown; body, wings, and tail
closely _barred_ with black and white; no white wing coverts;
rarely a red throat like male; usually but not always a large
black patch on breast, and always a _yellow belly_ and _white
rump_. Young males lack the red on the throat and usually the
yellow on the belly; the black is dull, and the throat a dingy
white. Young females lack the yellow on the belly and the black
on breast, and are dull-colored and indistinctly marked. 9-9.5
inches.
Rocky Mountain region, west to Sierra Nevada, Cascades
and northern Coast Ranges, breeding at from 5000
to 9000 feet elevation. The handsomest of our woodpeckers.
14. CEOPHLOEUS PILEATUS, _Pileated Woodpecker, Logcock_.
Body blackish slate; wings with a large white patch conspicuous
only when flying; throat white; a white stripe
across cheek and down neck; jaw-stripe scarlet in male,
blackish in female; both sexes with scarlet crest, but in the
male the whole top of head (which is slaty black in female)
equally brilliant. This red cap gives the bird the name of
_pileated_. Iris yellow. 17 inches.
Wooded regions of Southern States, Florida to North
Carolina, very rarely near settlements, but far more common
than the following subspecies of the North and
West.
a. _C. p. abieticola_, _Northern Pileated Woodpecker_.
Larger; more extensive white markings; the black grayer
or browner.
From Virginia northward to 63 deg. in the East, and in the
West among the Rocky Mountains, north of Colorado, to
the northwest coast; a shy woodland bird to be looked
for only in the primitive evergreen forests, though sometimes
occurring in any heavy timber and, in New England,
upon the higher well-wooded mountains. The
largest of the northern woodpeckers; resident.