256 The Scottish Naturalist. 



2. The Goldfinch {Coj'dtielis elegans,^tt^\\en'5>). — This fine 

 cage-bird was common in Perthshire fifty or sixty years ago ; but 

 now it is rarely, if ever, seen in a wild state. The disappearance 

 of this species is accounted for by the scarcity of its favourite 

 food, — such as thistles, burdock, knapweed, plantain, &c. With 

 the reclamation of so much waste land, the various weeds on 

 which it feeds have got scarcer every year. It is also very easily 

 caught, — a large number are netted every year in the southern 

 counties of England. 



The Goldfinch still breeds in various parts of England, and 

 probably in the south of Scotland. In Great Britain it is a par- 

 tial migrant : a few remain in England during the winter, but the 

 greater part gradually make their way to the south coast, and 

 then disappear across the Channel. About twenty years ago I 

 caught a male Goldfinch with a limed twig : that was the only 

 one I ever saw flying wild. It is too well known to require 

 description. 



3. Greater Spotted Woodpecker {Fiats major ^ L.) — This 

 species is found over the whole of Europe, and also on the Amer- 

 ican continent. In this country it is nowhere common, gener- 

 ally being found in wooded districts, and sometimes in gardens, 

 where it is said to do considerable damage to the fruit, being 

 very partial to cherries and plums. Its food consists princi- 

 pally of insects and larvae : it alarms the insects from the crev- 

 ices in the bark by vigorously tapping the trees with its bill, 

 the noise of which can be heard for a considerable distance. 

 The male is about ten inches in length ; the bill is of a dark 

 horn colour, the irides purple-red ; the forehead is of a yellowish- 

 white colour, the crown black ; at the back of the head is a bright 

 scarlet stripe ; on each side of the head there is a white patch ; 

 lower down, on the neck, is a smaller white patch, and over the 

 wings is a long white stripe ; the back is black ; three white bars 

 run across the wings ; throat and breast buff white ; under-tail 

 coverts red ; the legs and toes black. The female is without the 

 red on the back of the head. One — a male — was shot at Strath- 

 ord saw-mill some years since, and another in the Five-mile Wood, 

 near Stanley. 



4. Green Woodpecker (Gccinus viridis, L.) — This is a very 

 rare bird with us. It is plentiful in some of the English counties, 

 but is nowhere common in Scotland. Ten or twelve years ago 

 I saw a pair of these pretty birds in the Cottage Wood, across 

 the river from Stanley. My attention was drawn to them by the 



