Plate Number: I 17

PICUS niger maximus capite rubro: The Larger Red Crested Wood-pecker

Weighs nine ounces: the Bill angular two inches long, of a lead colour: the Neck is small; the Iris of the eye gold colour, encompassed with a lead-colour'd skin: the whole Crown of the Head is adorn'd with large scarlet crest; under which, and from the eyes back, runs a narrow white line, and under that a broad black lift: a patch of red covers some of the lower mandible of the Bill and Neck; the rest of the Neck (except the hind-part, which is black) of a pale yellow, with a small stripe of black dividing it: the upper part of the exterior vanes of the Quill-feathers is white; above which, on the edge of the Wing, is a white spot or two: on the middle of the Back is a broad white spot all the rest of the upper part of the Body and Tail black: the under part of the Body of a dusky black.

That which distinguishes the Cock from the Hen, is the red which covers some part of his under jaw, which in the Hen is black. And whereas the whole Crown of the Cock is red, in the Hen the Fore-head is brown. These Birds (besides Insects, which they get from rotten trees, their usual food) are destructive to Maiz, by pecking Holes through the husks that inclose the grain, and letting in wet.

Quercus sempervivens foliis oblongis non sinuatis. D. Banister: The Live Oak

The usual Height of the Live Oak is about 40 foot; the Grain of the wood course, harder and tougher than any other Oak. Upon the edges of Salt-Marshes (where they usually grow) they arrive to a large size. Their Bodies are irregular, and generally lying along, occasioned by the looseness and moisture of the soil, and tides washing their roots bare. On higher lands they grow erect, with a regular pyramidal-shaped Head, retaining their leaves all the year. The Acorns are the sweetest of all others; of which the Indians usually lay up store, to thicken their venison-soop, and prepare them other ways. They likewise draw an oil, very pleasant and wholesom, little inferior to that of Almonds.