Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/744

* WOOD-NYMPH. 636 W00D-PRESE3VING. two broods of pale-bluisli caterpillars, striped •with orange and black lines, feed from May to September. The insects hibernate as naked chrys- alises. The pearly wood-nymph (Euthisunotia iiiiio) much resembles the former species, but is smaller and the outer border of the front wings is paler and tawny. It forms a simple earthen cocoon, or frequently bores into a piece of old wood, and cluuiges to a chrysalis, in which stage it passes the winter. (See Colored Plate of ilOTHS.) A California species (Euthisanotia breviijcnnis) is similar to both of the above in color and habits. Spraying the vines with an arsenical solution is recommended as a preven- tive of damage by these insects. WOOD OIL. See GuKJrx Balsams. WOODPECKER. A forest bird of the family Picid:T>, adapted to clinging to the trunks of trees and digging holes in the wood with its beak. The toes are in pairs, two before and two behind, armed with sharp strong claws; in Picoides and some other genera one of the two hind toes is wanting, and these forms are therefore called three-toed woodpeckers. The bill is rather long, straight, and wedge-shaped, with a hard tip, the end and sides compressed : the tail is usually lengthened and rigid, and the shafts of the feathers terminate in hard spines, which the birds press against the surface upon which they rest, and so aid in supporting their weight. The last of the caudal vertebra; is very large, with a long ridge-like spinous process; the whole structure adapting these birds to run and climb with the greatest facility on the stems and brandies of trees, and to seek their food, which consists chieliv of insects and their larv;p, by digging into the biirk and wood of trees with their bill. The tongue is fitted to this service, as the branches of the hyoid bone are greatly elongated back- ward, and in front move as in a sheath ; and muscles enable these birds to extend the tongue far beyond the bill. The tip of the tongue is horny and has barbed filaments, while its surface is covered with a glutinous saliva, secreted by two large glands. The keel of the breast-bone is small, and the powers of flight are moderate. Woodpeckers are diffused over almost all parts of the globe, but abound chiefly in warm coun- tries. They are wanting in the Australian re- gion and in Madagascar. The species are very numerous, probably 3.50 in all. They are mostly solitary in their habits, and live in forests. Some species feed in part on fruits and seeds, but much of their time is spent in pursuit of insects, and they may be hcanl at a long dis- tance tapping the wood of trees with their bills, to discover the place where an insect is lodged, or getting at it wlicn discovered by vigorovis I)icka.e-like strokes of the bill. They do more good by preventing the ravages of insects than liarm by their pecking. They ne.st in a hole cut into the trunk of a tree for a short distance and then excavated downward six to twelve inches, according to the size of the bird, where it is somewhat enlarged. In the Southwest they often bore into cactus stems, Xo bedding is needed, the eggs, invariably glossy white, lying on the floor of the chamber. These lioles are never iscd a second tinu'. but old ones are frequently utilized by other birds. The plumage of woo<lpeckcrs is generally of strongly contrasted colors, black and white, or green and yellow, with red marks about the head. There are several well-marked groups in the family, diffet-ing in form, plumage, habits, and geographic distribution. The American species of woodpecker are nu- merous and well known. The finest of the race, the great ivory-bill (q.v.). is now extinct. An- other very large species, the logcock (CFOphlwus pilealiis). is about IT inches long, greenish black, with stripes from the eyes along the neck and sides, and the top of the head red. It is widely distributed, but stays in forests and is nowhere numerous. Common and familiar iii' 'orchards and along roadsides is a small black and white species, the downy woodpecker (Dryohates piihescens) ; and a larger counterpart, .the 'hairy' {Dryohates rillosus), k oitexi s^een. Both peck holes in the bark of apple-trees, maples, and the like, but these scars most often mark the work of the 'sapsucker' (q,v.). Various species belong to Canada or to the Pacific Slope. The red-headed woodpecker {ilelanerpes erythroccjihahis) is common in most parts of Xorth America west of the Alleghanies, and feeds much upon fruits and upon young heads of In- dian corn, so that it is not an unmixed blessing. But its superb coloration (head crimson, back, wings, and tail glossy blue-black, secondaries and rumj) pure white) makes it a handsome ornament and atones in some degree for the mischief it does. It is ten inches long. An extraordinary species of California {Melanerpes formicirorus), related to the redhead, is remarkable for its habit of storing acorns, each hammered into a hole in a tree-trunk dug to receive it. The East- ern redhead also stores acorns irregularly in bark crevices. Lastly, the golden-winged wood- pecker or flicker (q.v.) should be mentioned. Of the European woodpeckers, the 'great black' species {Dryocoptis nuirtiiis), much like the American logcock, is rare. The 'greater spotted' and 'lesser spotted' are closely related and simi- lar to the 'downy' and 'hairy' woodpeckers. The most distinctive and numerous of British species is the green woodpecker {I'iciif! riridis), also common on the Continent of Europe. It is about tliirtecn inches in length, and is mostly of a dark-green color, picturesquel.v ornamented about the head with black and scarlet. One group of foreign woodpeckers demands a few words because of the peculiar tail, which is not at all woodpecker-like. This is the sub- family Picumnina>, of which about '25 species are known, sometimes called piculets (q.v.). Consult general works cited under Birds ; and Eckstorm. The Woodpeckers (Boston. lOOl); Beal, Enod nf Woodpeckers (Washington, 1S95). Sec I'lati' of WOODI'ECKEBS. WOOD-PEWEE. See Pewee. WOOD-PRESERVING. Several processes have been emphiycil for the purpose of prevent- ing the decay of wood from dampness, at- mospheric action, or the destructive operations, of animals and parasitic plants. The principle in all has been the same — viz. the injection into the vessels of the wood of some mineral material, wliieli. by combining with the alliumeii of the woody tissue, prevents its decomposition, or gives it a poisonous character. The eliief of the meth- ods in use are: 'kyanizing' with bichloride of mercury: 'creosoting.' in which the preserving material is the creosote of coal-tar; and "burnet-