276 TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



stiff and pointed ; tongue very long, with a horny tip, capable 

 of being drawn out of the beak to a great length. All lay 

 their eggs, pure shiny white, in the hole of a tree. This 

 family is represented throughout the whole world, with the 

 exception of New Holland. 



34. Picus MAETIUS, L. Spill Kraka. The Great Black 



Woodpecker. D. F. 



All the woodpeckers remain in Scandinavia through- 

 out the whole year. Length 18 in. ; wing breadth nearly 

 30 in. ; tail 8 in., extending beyond the wings about 

 3 in. ; body colour deep black. In the male the whole 

 crown of the head, in the female only a patch on the back 

 of the neck, deep crimson ; eye in the younger birds 

 straw yellow, in the older ones white. 

 Is common throughout the whole of Scandinavia, from 

 the extreme south to far up within the Polar circle. Goes to 

 nest the earliest of all our woodpeckers, in April. Eggs 

 five, generally a little larger than those of the green wood- 

 pecker, but often so much resembling them as to be with 

 difficulty distinguished^ 



Like all the other woodpeckers, the male sits on the eggs 

 as well as the female. I have taken three clutches of es^s 



Oo 



(in all fifteen) in one season from the same pair of birds. 

 The cry of the great black woodpecker is a loud wild " pey- 

 oh \" and is generally heard before rainy weather. 



35. P. VIEIDIS, L. Gron Hack Spett. The Green Wood- 



pecker. D. 



Length about 14 in. ; tail extending 2 in. beyond 



the closed wings ; eye white ; legs lead coloured ; body 



colour green above, with a red head, and black tract 



around the eye ; under parts greenish grey ; all the tail 



feathers with pale transverse bands. In the male a red 



stripe from the gape backwards, which is wanting in the 



female, and the red on the head is not so vivid. 



Is more common in the south of Scandinavia than the 



last, but rarer in the midland forests ; is not known either 



