4 ALLEN'S NATURALLSTS LIBRARY. 



viz., the Woodpeckers {Fici?ice)^ the Piculets {ricuimmicB) and 

 the Wrynecks {I'pigina). The second of these Sub-famiUes has 

 a soft and rounded tail, without spiny shafts. It consists of 

 about forty species of very small size, mostly found in Central 

 and South America, but also represented in Africa, as well as in 

 the Himalayan and kindred ranges of mountains in Asia. 



Both the Woodpeckers and Wrynecks are represented in 

 Great Britain, the former by three species, the latter by a single 

 one. 



THE TRUE WOODPECKERS. SUB-FAMILY 

 PICIN^E. 



Some forty-five genera are comprised in this Sub-family, of 

 which two are natives of Great Britain. Besides the three 

 species which are residents, there are several which have been 

 chronicled as having wandered to the British Isles. The Great 

 Black Woodpecker (Fiais martins) has been recorded over and 

 over again, but a careful enquiry into all the records by Mr. 

 J, H. Gurney, has thrown doubt on every one of the occur- 

 rences, and it is indeed a very unlikely bird to wander from its 

 Scandinavian home. The only specimen examined by me in 

 the flesh, in this country, had its crop filled with insects, which 

 I sent for examination to the late Professor Westwood of 

 Oxford, and they were pronounced by him not to be British, 

 but Swedish, species ! The Great Black Woodpecker measures 

 seventeen inches in length, is entirely black above and below, 

 the male having a red crown, while in the female the red colour 

 is confined to the occiput. 



The White-backed Woodpecker {Deiidrocopits kuco7iotus) is 

 said to have occurred in the Shetland Islands. The specimen 

 believed to be of this species was figured by the late Mr. 

 Gould in his " Birds of Great Britain," and it appeared to me 

 at the time to be a young D. leuco7iotus. Recent observers, 

 however, have come to the conclusion that the bird was only 

 a young of the Spotted Woodpecker. D. leiicojiotus may be 

 distinguished, when adult, by its pure white rump, contrasting 

 with the black of the upper back ; the male has the head and 

 occiput red, and the female has these parts black. The total 

 length is about ten inches, and the wing a little over five and 

 a half inches. Its native home is Northern and Central 



