87 
HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
Picus villosus, Linn2us. GMELIN. 
Picus—A bird that makes holes in trees, supposed to be the 
Woodpecker. Villosus—Hairy, 
I am here also indebted to W. F. W. Bird, Esq., for a 
eareful collection of the different accounts of this species as 
a British bird. Dr. Latham’s is as follows:—‘This has been 
met with in England, but I have only heard of two or three 
instances of the circumstance; one, in particular, communicated 
by the late Mr. Bolton, of Stannary, near Halifax, Yorkshire, 
of a pair being shot among the old trees in the park of Sir 
George Armitage, Baronet, at Kirklees Hall, where they no 
doubt had been bred, but the wood being cut down the suc- 
ceeding winter, the rest forsook the ground, and could not 
be traced further. The above pair were presented to the late 
Duchess Dowager of Portland, in whose collection I saw them 
many years since. These birds answered to the general des- 
cription in every particular, except in not having the red 
bar across the back of the head so complete, their being only 
a patch of that colour on each side of the head.’ So also 
says Wilson. 
In the ‘British Cyclopedia,’ vol. iii, page 447, it is observed, 
‘This is understood to be a discursive bird, at least to a 
considerable extent, for a specimen or two are reported to 
have made their appearance in England; and either it, or a 
species very similar, has been found in the eastern parts of 
Siberia. That an American Woodpecker should find its way 
to Siberia is by no means unlikely; coming to England, 
however, is a different matter.’ The writer of the above does 
not seem to have calculated that though the difficulty may 
