90 PICUS STRIOLATUS. 



All that I have here given respecting its habits is downright 

 compilation, for, if I have ever seen the bird alive, I have no 

 recollection of its having afforded me any information. 



Young. — When fledged, the young are similar to the adult, 

 the males, according to Montagu, having the red on the head 

 before they leave the nest. 



Remarks. — Although a small bird, this is by no means the 

 smallest of even the Pied or Spotted Woodpeckers, and there- 

 fore I have changed its name to striolatus, expressive of the 

 manner in vv^hich its breast and sides are marked. 



A small Woodpecker, Picus villosus, intermediate in size 

 between the present and the last, but with the upper part of 

 the head in the male black, with a transverse red occipital 

 band, and a white streak over the eye, the red band wanting 

 in the female, has been stated to have been shot near Halifax 

 in Yorkshire. It is supposed, however, that the specimens 

 had come from Halifax in North America. Its habits, accord- 

 ing to Mr Audubon, are similar to those of our own species. 

 It is found at all seasons in the woods, orchards, and fences ; 

 feeds on larvae, insects, seeds of maize, grapes, and other fruits ; 

 breeds in holes which it bores in trees, laying from four to 

 seven eggs ; and emits a sharp loud note, as well as a rolling 

 noise similar to that produced by the other small species. 



According to Donovan, Picus tridactylus of Linnaeus has 

 been shot in the north of Scotland, but I am not aware of its 

 having been met with in any part of Britain. 



