216 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



was quite warm and had apparently died from natural causes." The bird was 

 forwarded to Mr. Macleay, Inverness, for preservation. 



Destination of Specimen. In collection of the recorder, Frank J. Pullar, 

 Ellend House, Bridge of Allan. 



Recorded in "Annals Scot. Nat. Hist." July 1908. 



FOOTNOTE. " Remarks" may consist of further Field Dissection or Cabinet Notes 



of Recorder. 1 



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 tance of is. 3d. for each book ; or Pads containing 24 leaves each, all Thick 

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ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT COLONY 

 OF SCOTTISH GREATER SPOTTED WOOD- 

 PECKERS. 



By WILLIAM EVANS, F.R.S.E. 



Now that the Greater Spotted Woodpecker has become 

 thoroughly established as a breeding species in the southern 

 half of Scotland, the interesting question arises, Is it to Eng- 

 land or to Scandinavia that we owe our present native stock ? 

 In other words, Have we here an instance of English birds 

 extending their breeding range northwards into Scotland, 



o o o 



or of Scandinavian visitants settling down in their winter 

 quarters ? To me the former of these alternatives seems the 

 more likely, and I believe I have found substantial evidence 

 in support of it. 



Dr. Ernst Hartert has shown (" Novitates Zoologicae," 

 December 1900) that the English bird is smaller, and has a 

 more slender bill than the typical Dendrocopus major inhabit- 

 ing Scandinavia and other parts of Northern Europe, and he 

 has consequently described the former as a subspecies under 

 the name of Dendrocopus major anglicus. " Its wing," he 

 states, " is considerably shorter, the whole bird smaller, the 

 bill much slenderer, and the underside, as a rule, much more 

 brownish buff." The wings (carpel joint to tip) of English 

 males before him measured 128, 129, 131, 132 mm.; 

 those of females 128, 130, 131 mm. The wing measure- 

 ment of D. major major he gives as 143-145 mm. in 



