1738 THE PICARIAN BIRDS 



is known to occur, it is by no means easy to get a sight of it. Its single note, 

 resembling the knocking of two stones together a sort of chit can be often 

 heard, but the bird is not visible, having probably placed the trunk of a big 

 tree between itself and the observer, after the manner of woodpeckers in general. 

 In the spring it makes a peculiar drumming noise on the smaller branches of 

 the trees or on the trunks of dead trees, and this noise, which appears to be a sort 

 of signal code between one bird and its mate, can be heard for a considerable 

 distance. The species is found in wooded districts, but generally in park lands, 

 where hollow trees occur here and there, and in these the great spotted woodpecker 

 bores for its nesting place. The bird seems to pursue 'a kind of regular round 

 of trees in search of insects, beginning generally at the bottom and pursuing 

 the uneven tenor of its way toward the top of one tree, sometimes visiting the larger 

 branches on its way up, and betokening its presence by the loud taps which it 

 bestows upon the bark, or by the fall of its pieces, as the bird prizes them off with 

 its awl-like bill. Although its chief food consists of insects, secured with great 

 rapidity by means of its long and glutinous tongue, this woodpecker visits orchards 

 and feeds on plums and cherries, while in the autumn and winter it will devour 

 nuts, acorns, and berries. The least of the European species of the genus, and 

 easily recognized by its small size and the five white bars on the wing, the lesser 

 spotted woodpecker (D. minor] has in the male the crown red, while in the female 

 the forehead and crown are white, with no red on the head at all. In general 

 habits the present species closely resembles the last, but at certain seasons of 

 the year i*. is found hunting for insects in orchards or on trees in the vicinity 

 of houses, which is not the case with its larger relative. Being, like most of 

 its kin, a shy bird, it is not often seen, and, indeed, its presence is generally to be 

 detected by its tapping on the trees, or when flying from one tree to another, 

 at which times the black and white bars on the extended wings render it rather 

 conspicuous. It often sits on a branch horizontally, or runs along the under side 

 like a nuthatch. It has the habit, in the breeding season, of making a drumming 

 noise on the bark of trees, which can be heard for a great distance, and is evidently 

 a call from one bird to the other, as its note is so weak that the sound of it would 

 not travel far. This drumming is performed on the smaller branches of a poplar 

 tree at a great height from the ground, and the nest hole is also often drilled in the 

 small branches of a poplar, near the top of the tree, making it a matter of some 

 difficulty and danger to procure the nest. The range of this woodpecker is almost 

 the same as that of the preceding species, and, like it, it is represented in North 

 Africa and in Asia by allied species. Another species found in most parts of 

 Europe, and supposed to have occurred once in England, is the white-backed 

 woodpecker (D. leuconotus}. As its name implies it has a white back, with a 

 black mantle, a red crown, and broad black streaks on its flanks. The female, 

 as in most other species of this genus, has a black head. Its range extends across 

 Northern Asia to Manchuria and Corea. General^ placed in the same genus as 

 the last, the middle spotted woodpecker (D. medius) is by some regarded as the 

 representative of a distinct genus (Dendrocoptes} , on account of its differently 

 shaped beak, and its distinct style of plumage. Unknown in England, this species 



