DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION, HABITS 



the end of the hole the eggs are laid, 4 to 5 in number, 

 pure white, and unusually round in shape ; size, i.O by 0.85. 



Cardinal Woodpecker {Dendropicus cardmalis). (Vol. 



II., p. 83.) 



Description, — Male : forehead umber-brown. Crown and 

 nape crimson. Back deep olive-brown, the feathers tipped 

 with white, presenting a barred appearance. Rump and upper 

 tail coverts yellowish. The wings and tail dark, barred with 

 white. The shafts of the feathers yellow. The two centre tail 

 feathers tinted with golden-yellow. Under parts dull whitish, 

 streaked on the breast and barred on the flanks with black. 

 Iris dark reddish-brown. Legs ashy with olive tinge. 



Lengthy 6.0 \ tail, 1.80 ; wing, 3.6. 



In the female the back of the crown and occiput are black. 

 The cheeks and sides of the neck are less spotted with black 

 than in the male. 



Distribution. — Common in all the wooded parts of South 

 Africa, from Cape Province to the Zambesi. North of the 

 Zambesi, it ranges as far as Nyassaland and Portuguese East 

 Africa. 



Habits. — The cardinal woodpeckers are usually seen singly 

 or in pairs, busily tapping tree trunks and branches in search 

 of the grubs of wood-boring beetles and searching the crevices 

 in the bark for adult beetles. It is common along the wooded 

 banks of rivers and on the mimosa-covered veld, hillsides, and 

 valleys. The nest is at the bottom of a hole in a decayed tree 

 trunk. Clutch, 5 to 7 ; eggs white. 



South African Wryneck {lynx nificollis). (Vol. II., 



Description. — Above brown, speckled with darker. An 

 irregular black streak from the crown to the shoulders. Wing 

 coverts with a number of black spots with pale edges. Tail 

 barred irregularly with black. Throat and upper breast 



