THE WOODPECKERS 



[ORDER : Coraciiformes. FAMILY : Picidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



GREEN-WOODPECKER [Picus viridis Linnaeus. Gecinus viridis 

 (Linnaeus). Yaffle, hewhole, witwall, woodwall, yaffingale, woodnacker, 

 rainbird. French, pic vert ; German, Orunspecht ; Italian, picchio verde]. 



I. Description. The green - woodpecker cannot be compared with any 

 other British bird, since it is the only species which is wholly green in colour save 

 for a bright crimson patch on the crown. The sexes are alike, and there is no 

 seasonal change of plumage. (PI. 76.) Length, 12 inches [350 mm.]. The adult male 

 has the crown and nape rich crimson, and a similar red patch in the centre of 

 a black malar stripe. The lores and a patch round the eye are also black. The 

 rest of the upper parts are of a light sap-green, passing into golden yellow on the 

 rump. The wings are of a darker bronze-green, the secondaries with almost im- 

 perceptible dark bars. Only the outer webs of the secondaries are bronze-green, 

 the inner webs being dusky. The primaries have the outer webs chequered black 

 and white, but on the innermost feathers the white is replaced by green. The tail 

 feathers are black, with greenish bars on the outer webs, but the two middle feathers 

 are barred with greenish grey. The under parts are pale sap-green, the feathers 

 on the lower breast and abdomen with darker, indistinct margins, while the under 

 tail-coverts are greenish white, with subterminal margins of dark slate. The iris 

 is pearly white. The female differs from the male only in being slightly duller 

 and lacking the red bar in the malar stripe. The juvenile plumage is as character- 

 istic as the adult, the dominant hue being green, while the crown is grey flecked 

 with crimson the red being less well developed than in the adult. The upper 

 parts are of a dark sap-green, each feather having a double bar of dark green, and 



318 



