311 



PICIDJE. 



PICID^E. 



342 



the elm, to which it is especially partial, it not unfrequently visits 

 orchard-trees of large growth, running over their moss-grown branches 

 in quest of the larvae of insects which abound in such situations. In 

 its actions it is very lively and alert. Unlike the Large Woodpecker, 

 which prefers the trunks of trees, it naturally frequents the smaller 

 and more elevated branches, which it traverses with the utmost ease 

 and celerity. Should it perceive itself noticed it becomes shy, and 

 retires from observation by concealing itself behind the branch on 

 which it rests ; if however earnestly engaged in the extraction of its 

 food, its attention appears to be so absorbed that it will allow itself 

 to be closely approached without suspending ita operations. When 

 spring commences it becomes clamorous and noisy, its call being an 

 oft-repeated note so closely resembling that of the Wryneck as to be 

 scarcely distinguishable from it At other times of the year it is mute, 

 and its presence is only betrayed by the reiterated strokes which it 

 makes against the bark of trees." (' Birds of Europe.') 



The four or five eggs are deposited in a hole in a tree generally 

 suited to the size of the bird (whereby larger intruders are excluded), 

 and sometimes very deep. They are of a delicate flesh-colour before 

 they are blown, being so transparent that the colour imparted by the 

 yolk is visible ; when blown they are of a shining white. 



P. tridactylus (Genus, Picaides, Laccp. ; Tridactylia, Stephens ; 

 Dendrocojitu, Koch; Apternia, Sw.). This is the Northern Three- 

 Toed Woodpecker of Edwards ; P. hiriutui of Vieillot ; Dreizehiger 

 Specht and Berg und Alpen Dreizehiger Specht of the Germans ; 

 Tretaig Hackspette of Nilsson's Scandinavian Fauna ; Picchio a Tre- 

 Dita of the Italians. 



Three.Tocd Woodpecker (Pictu tridactyltis}. 

 Lower figure, male. (Gould.) 



Male. Forehead variegated with black and white ; top of the head 

 golden-yellow ; occiput and cheeks lustrous black ; a black moustache 

 H prolonged upon the breast ; behind the eyed a narrow white stripe, 

 ttda larger one below; front of the neck and breast pure white; 

 njp|i.-r part of the back, sides of the breast, flanks, ami abdomen trans- 



versely streaked with black and white ; wings tarnished black, with 

 some white spots on the quills ; part of the upper part of tho tarsus 

 covered with feathers ; upper mandible brown, lower whitish to the 

 point ; iris blue. Length nine inches. 



The old male has the yellow of the head more vivid and more white 

 on the lower parts, but the white is always transversely striped with 

 black. 



Female. Top of the head lustrous or silvery-white, variegated with 

 fine black streaks. 



This bird inhabits the vast forests in the mountains of the north of 

 Europe, Asia, and America. It is very abundant in Siberia, and com- 

 mon in the Swiss Alps, but rare in France and Germany, where it only 

 passes accidentally ; it is never seen in Holland. Such is M. Tem- 

 minck's account, who adds, in the fourth part of his ' Manual,' that it 

 is never or very rarely found on the summits of the Alps, and that it 

 never passes the elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It 

 inhabits, he adds, exclusively the forests and valleys at the foot of the 

 Alps, and is very common in Switzerland. Mr. Gould states that it is 

 by no means uncommon in the northern parts of the European conti- 

 nent, the vast forests of the mountainous parts of Norway, Sweden, 

 Russia, and Siberia, forming its principal habitat ; that it is also found 

 among the Alps of Switzerland, is but an accidental visitor in France 

 and Germany, and has never been taken, ho believes, in the British 

 Islands. Sir John Richardson says that this bird exists in all the 

 forests of spruce-fir lying between Lake Superior and the Arctic Sea, 

 and that it is the most common woodpecker north of the Great Slave 

 Lake. 



Insects and their larvte and wild fruits form the food of this species, 

 which lays four or five pure white eggs in the hole of a tree. 



Two other.European Woodpeckers (four-toed), namely, P. canua and 

 P. leuconotui the first a good deal resembling the Green Woodpecker, 

 and the second not unlike the Greater Spotted Woodpecker aro 

 unknown as inhabitants of the British Islands. 



The European Woodpecker seems to have been known to the 

 ancients. Aristotle (' Hist. Anim.,' viii. 3), after treating of insectivo- 

 rous birds, says that there are other insect-eaters (tTKvmoQdya), as the 

 Greater and Lesser Pipra (Pipo in Bekker's text), and that some call 

 both these SpwoKoAaimjs, that is, tree-pecker or piercer. These birds, 

 he adds, resemble each other, and have the same voice, but the greater 

 has the loudest. They both obtain their food by flying to the trees. 

 The KoAi4>, or KeAt 6s (Bekker, whose text is the only good one), also, 

 which is the size of the turtle-dove, but whose colour is green entirely. 

 This, Aristotle says, is a great excavator of trees, on which it gets its 

 living, and its voice is very loud. This bird occurs especially in the 

 Peloponnesus. Aristotle then mentions another insectivorous bird, 

 which is called Kviiro\6yos (gnat or insect catcher), and hollows trees ; 

 but this, from its small size and colour, can hardly have been any 

 known woodpecker. In the ninth chapter of the ninth book, Aristotle 

 states that the Dryocolaptct does not sit on the ground, but pecks the 

 oaks to make the worms and insects come forth, which it afterwards 

 catches with its tongue, which is broad and large. It rung very quickly 

 upon the trees. 



Aristotle mentions three of these Dryocolaptes, one smaller than n 

 Cottyphua (Blackbird probably), which has red spots ; a second of the 

 same size as a Cottyphus ; and a third not much less than a hen. It 

 has its nest on trees, especially on the olive-tree, and feeds on emmet* 

 and worms which come out of the trees. To get at the worms he 

 hollows out the tree so much, they say, as to cause it to fall. A tame 

 one having adjusted an almond in a chink of wood, broke it at the 

 third stroke and ate the kernel. 



Aristotle also mentions the strong and compact bill of the Dryo- 

 coput in the first chapter of the third book (' De Partibus Anim.'). 



Pliuy appears to use the term PictM martini as a general name for 

 all woodpeckers. ('Nat. Hist.,' x. 33; xi. 37; xxvi. 4; xxvii. 10; 

 xxx. 16). 



P. tquamatut. Top of the head and occiput scarlet ; above and 

 below the eye a yellowish-white streak ; a black line extending from 

 the base of the lower mandible along the sides of the neck ; the upper 

 surface of a bright green ; quill-feathers and tail dull olive-black, 

 barred with white ; throat and breast grayish-green ; abdomen and 

 under surface of a still lighter tint, marked with black scales closely 

 and regularly disposed ; bill yellowish-white, horn-brown at the base ; 

 tarsi brown. Length 12| inches. 



It is found iu Asia, in the Himalaya Mountains. 



Mr. Gould, from whom the above description is taken, observes, in 

 his ' Century," that there appears to be a natural group of the Wood- 

 peckers, intermediate between the genus Colaptes, whose habits con- 

 fine them entirely to the ground, and the typical Piciiltr, who gain 

 their subsistence almost wholly from the bark of trees. In this inter- 

 mediate division of which, he remarks, our own P. viridit and the 

 P. canua of the continent may be considered as the types, and whicli 

 are the only species found in Europe the present species, as well as 

 P. occipitalie, also a Himalayan bird, may be classed ; all these birds 

 being found, like the typical Woodpeckers, to frequent trees as a 

 resort for food, while at tho same time they equally subsist, like the 

 ground-feeding species, on auts and other insects which they obtain on 

 the surface of the ground. 



Mr. Gould further stated that the locality of P. aqnamnliis, as well 



