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Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Adult Male--Upper parts black, with two white stripes beginning at the bill and meeting on the back; the wings have the secondaries white, so that in flight these seem to be a broad white band across the bird; crest scarlet; under parts black; bill white.
Adult Female--Has the crest black, but is otherwise the same. Length--20.00.
Breeding Range--The Gulf States and lower Mississippi Valley.
The nest is in a hole in the upper part of a tall tree; eggs white, complement undetermined. Size--1.45 x 1.00.
This, the largest as well as the wildest of our woodpeckers, has been but little observed during the breeding season. In former years it was found in North Carolina, and even as far north as Indiana; but the presence of man has forced it farther south, and now it is to be found chiefly in the dense cypress swamps of the Gulf States, where in some parts it is fairly common, though always shy and difficult of approach. The breeding season begins in all probability towards the end of March.