Pi cine and Cuckoo-likc Birds. 



91 



THE LESSER 



SPOTTED 



WOODPECKER. 



(Dendyoiopiis minor 



The present species is the smallest of our British Wood- 

 peckers, and has the scapulars and lower back barred with black 

 and white, the under surface being brownish with narrow streaks 

 of black on the sides of the body. The crown is crimson, 

 mottled with white spots and dusky bases to the feathers. The 

 female differs in having the crown black, without an}' crimson, the forehead being of a 

 buffy white colour. The 3'oung birds have only the centre of the crown crimson. 

 The range of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is nearly the same as that of 

 D. major in the British Islands, and it extends into the South of Scotland, but it is 

 only an occasional visitor to Ireland. It is found throughout the greater part ot 

 Europe and ranges into Eastern Siberia. 



The habits of this little species more resemble those of the Nuthatch than those 

 of its ally, the Great Spotted Woodpecker. It is found in orchards and parks, and 

 nests in poplars as well as in fruit-trees, and can often be seen climbing on the lower 

 branches of the larger elms, or clinging to the small twigs, looking not unlike a Tit 

 or Nuthatch. The eggs varj' from five to eight in number, and are white ; they are 

 deposited on the touch-wood at the bottom of the hole, but no attempt at a nest is 

 made. 



The appearance of the Wrjneck is quite different from that 

 of the other Woodpeckers found in Britain, for its plumage is a 



THE WRYNECK. 



{lynx forijuilla.) 



brightly mottled brown, with rufous and black vermiculations. 

 That it is a member of the great family of Woodpeckers is seen b)' the zj'godactyle 

 formation of the feet, and it has the same extensile tongue as the latter birds, from 

 which, however, it differs in having a soft tail of rounded feathers, instead of the 

 sharply pointed stiffened tail-feathers of the true Woodpeckers. 



The genus Ivii.v contains a few species, all confined to the Old \Vorld, the 

 majority of the Wrj'necks being found in Africa. Our British bird has a wide 

 range, extending in summer from Great 

 Britain to Japan, and wintering in 

 Northern Africa, India and China. It 

 is often called the 'Cuckoo's Mate,' from 

 the fact that the date of its arrival 

 coincides with that of the Cuckoo, but 

 in the neighbourhood of London I have 

 generally noticed it to be a little later in 

 coming than the last-named bird. 

 Like the Woodpeckers, it lays perfectly 

 white eggs, in the hole of a tree, and 

 makes no nest. 



It is of a tame disposition and often 

 takes ad\'antage of any nest-box put up 



