PICID.K. 



half a mile ; and he remarks that the bird will also keop iU head in 

 TTTT quick motion while moving about the tree for food, jarring the 

 bark, and shaking it at the time it in necking for inaecU. Bechstein 

 aays that the food of thin upecie* consists of insects, beech -mast, acorn*, 

 nuu, and the Mad of pines and fin ; and that, in order to crack nuts, 

 it fixes them in the clefts of the tree* Temininck make* the food to 



P1CIDJE. 



340 



I of "hann*ton<(^do(aiKAo),beet, grasshoppers, ants, perforating 

 and other lame." 



The ep;, which are glossy-white, and from four to six in number, are 

 deported at the bottom of a hole in a tree upon the decayed wood. 



The favourite localities of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker are 

 large wood* and well-timbered parka, It has been seen, but not BO 

 abundantly a* the next specie*, in Kensington Gardens. 







GIC.UT Spotted Woodpecker (/>. (frjwUto) major). 

 Upper , mt<- ; lower, female. (Oould.) 



Pnraant and others have placed the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, 

 P. "', among the British bird* ; but there i no safe record of its 

 having been cvtr Men in thin country. The mistake hiui arisen from 

 tb.oa,pon appoaing U,e crimson-heft.lo.1 young of the Greater Spotted 

 VUodpcker to be tt. Middle Spotted Woodpecker, which when in 

 perfect plumage has the top of the head red. The last-named species 

 if now withdrawn from the British catalogue. 



P. minor, Linn. This 11 I,o Petit KtMjicho and Lo 1'otit Pic of the 

 French; Picchio Sarto Minore, Pioohio Piccolo, Piochiu Cardinale 

 Minore, and Picchietto (Cardinale, of tho lUlians ; Gras-Speoht, Garten 

 uud Gras llunt-Specht, Kleiner Bunt-Specht, and Kleiner Baumhacker, 

 of the Germans; Kleiuste Boute Specht of the Nethrrlauders; Lilla 

 Hackspetten of Nilsson's Scandinavian Fauna; Lesser Spotted Wood- 

 pecker, Lesser Spotted Woodspite, Hick wall, and Crank-Bird, of the 

 English ; Delor Fraith Beiaf of the Welsh. 



Old Male. The whole of the forehead, region of the eyes, sides of 

 the neck, and under parts, tarnished white ; fire longitudinal black 

 lines on the breast and flanks ; top of the head red ; occiput, nape, 

 upper port of the back and wings, black ; on the rest of the upper 

 parts black and white bands ; a black band goes from the angle of the 

 bill on the sides of the neck ; lateral tail-feathers terminated with 

 white and streaked with black ; iris red. Length 5 J inches. 



Female. No red ; white of the plumage clouded with brown, with 

 a greater number of spots and black stripes than in the male ; the 

 black of the upper parts is also lees perfect. 





, s, diii il Woodpecker (Picas minor). 

 Lower figure, male ; upper, female. (Gould.) 



This, the least of the European Woodpeckers, but by no means the 

 smallest of the family, is pretty generally distributed over Europe 

 from Scandinavia, and as far east as Siberia, to Italy. It is common 

 in England, and Sir Robert Sibbald claims it as a Scotch bird under 

 the name of Picni variiu minor, a designation by which it was kn..\vn 

 to Ray and the earlier writers. In Ireland it does not seem to have 

 been noticed. 



Woods, orchards, nursery gardens, and well-timbered parks, are the 

 haunts of this pretty little bird. " In England," says Mr. GouM, "it 

 in far moro abundant than is generally supposed ; wo have seldom 

 sought for it in vain wherever large trees, particularly the elm, grow 

 in sufficient numbers to invito ita abode : its security from sight is 

 to be attributed more to its habit of frequenting the topmost branches 

 than to its rarity. Near London it is very common, and may be seen 

 by an attentive observer in Kensington Gardens, and in any of the 

 parks in the neighbourhood. Like many other birds whose habits are 

 of an arboreal character, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker appears to 

 perform a certain daily round, traversing a given extent of district, 

 | and returning to the same spot whence it began its route. Besidei 



