SKETCHES OP EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 45 



on the breast, and the slender black bill, distinguish this species 

 from the rest of the genus. Its flight is peculiarly buoyant. 

 Abounds particularly in the southern regions of the Old World. 

 Its cry is said to be somewhat like the word crake. " Its eggs much 

 resemble those of the Arctic Tern, but are a little larger, more 

 pointed at the small end, with the ground-colour inclining to cream 

 white or pale wood brown." Food and habits similar to those of 

 the other Terns. Time of arrival " the same as that of the Sand- 

 wich and Arctic Terns, and by the end of September nearly the 

 whole of them have departed for warmer latitudes." The sexes do 

 not differ. 



Pied Woodpecker, Picus major — Pic epeiche, Fr, — Picchio vario. 

 It. — Bunt Specht, G. This is an exquisite plate, representing, of 

 the natural size, a male and female, and the young stretching their 

 heads out of the hole of a tree to receive the food their mother is 

 conveying in her bill. The female especially is admirably executed. 

 Common in all the wooded portions of Europe, including Britain. 

 Feeds on insects and their larvae, which it seeks on the trunks of 

 trees or on moss-grown rails ; likewise " commits great havoc among 

 cherries, plums, and wall-fruits in general." Flight short and rapid, 

 and manners brisk and lively. Lays in holes of trees, sometimes 

 excavating these to a considerable depth. Colour of the eggs, like 

 those of other Woodpeckers, glossy white. The male is only distin- 

 guished by the occipital band of scarlet. It is, however, a singular 

 and apparently unaccountable fact, that " the young of both sexes, 

 for the first three or four months of their existence, have the whole 

 of the brow scarlet," whereas the adult female has no scarlet at all 

 on the head, and the male has only the narrow occipital band above 

 alluded to. 



Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis — Chevalier stagnatile, Fr. 

 — Teich Wasserlaiifer, G. An elegant figure of the adult male, 

 winter plumage and size of life. In form it resembles Totanus fus- 

 cus, but it is little more than half the size of that bird. Does not 

 occur with us, and is very rare on the continent, though it extends 

 " from the north of Europe, its summer habitat, throughout the 

 eastern provinces, as far as the Mediterranean, frequenting the bor- 

 ders of large rivers, but never taking up its residence on the sea- 

 shore." Obtains its food in marshes and similar places. The sum- 

 mer plumage of the male is lighter on the upper parts ; tlie young 

 have those jiarts brownish-black, each feather being bordered with 

 yellow. Total length of the adult male about nine inches. 



Little Bittern, Uotaurus minutus — Heron blongios, Fr — Sgarza 



