90 British Birds. 



and is vouched for by the latter gentleman ; but the probability is that it was one 



of the individuals let loose from the Lilford Aviaries a short time previously. The 



Great Black Woodpecker is one of the most unlikely birds in the world to migrate 



from its home in the pine forests of Scandinavia. It is an unmistakable species, 



being black all over, with the top of the head red in the male, black in the 



female, which has a patch of red on the occiput. 



The genus Dendrocopus contains the Pied Woodpeckers, ot 



THE GREAT which two species are resident in the British Islands, while two 



are accidental visitors. D. major is the largest of the four, and 

 WOODPECKER. ■ , ■ , 



,r, , , ■ , may be recognised by having the back and rump black, with 



{Vtuarocoptts major.} j t^ j b r 



the wings and tail chequered with black and white. The crown 

 and nape are black in the male, with a scarlet patch on the occiput, while the adult 

 female has the head entirely black, without the red occipital patch. The young 

 birds of both se.\es, however, have an entirely red crown. In England and Wales 

 the present species occurs, but is alwaj's local, and in the north of England it 

 becomes gradually rarer, and is not known to breed either in Scotland or Ireland. 

 It is found throughout the greater part of Europe and Northern Asia, and sometimes 

 migrates in considerable numbers, as I have myself witnessed in Heligoland. 

 Like other \\'oodpeckers, D. major is decidedly a shy bird, and is more often heard 

 than seen. It has a curious habit of drumming on a slender branch of a tree, the 

 se.xes apparently using this method of signalling instead of a call-note. The food 

 of this species consists of insects which it obtains b}' hammering on the bark and 

 forcing pieces off, but it also feeds on nuts, fruit and berries. The eggs are white, 

 and from five to seven or eight in number, and are deposited on the chips at 

 the bottom of a hole hewn out by the birds in a hollow tree. 



The British Museum possesses a specimen of the Hairy 



^ THE HAIRYJ__YVoodpecker, obtained near Whitby in 1S49, and presented by 



III. WOODPECKER. I , , ,, t^ , • ti , a , r ^i • m n 



■■ -i — .=ii.:_ _;^.- the late Mr. Prederic Bond. Another specimen ot this ISorth 

 {Demh-ocopusvillosHS.) 



American species is said to have been procured in Yorkshire about 



a hundred years ago. Its home is in North America, where it is found from the 



Eastern States to the Rocky Mountains. It is distinguished from D. major by the 



white stripe down its back, but, like that species, it has a black crown with a scarlet 



band on the occiput, the latter being absent in the female, while the young 



birds have all the feathers of the crown tipped with orange-red. Its habits 



are similar to those of its allies. 



This is a small American species, which is found from 



THE DOWNY Alaska to Florida, and has occurred in France and also once 



•WOODPECKER. • t^ . , •• o c t. i i ■. ^ 1 ^u 



in Dorsetshire m 1836. It has a white stripe down the 

 {Dcndrocopus . 



, , , back like D. villosus, but is of the sue of D. minor and 



pubescens.) ' 



has a black head with a red band on the occiput, this hand 

 being absent in the female. 



