PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



a subterminal irregular transverse bar of greenish white, forming diamond shape 

 spots. The rump is barred black and white, and washed with golden yellow. 

 The wings are as in the adult, but duller, and having whitish spots on the coverts. 

 The side of the head, neck, and fore-breast are white, streaked on the sides of the 

 head and neck, and barred on the flanks, hind-breast, and abdomen with dusky 

 bars, inclining to form chevrons. The abdomen is tinged with yellow, [w. p. p.] 



3. Distribution. Resident in England and Wales, as well as on the Continent 

 up to about 63 N. lat. in Norway and S. Petersburg in Russia, but replaced by 

 allied forms in the Iberian Peninsula, North-west Africa, South-eastern Russia, 

 and Persia. In England it is fairly general in well-wooded districts, and in some 

 places common, throughout the southern counties, and up to the foot of the Pennine 

 Range. On the east side of the Pennines it is very local, but not uncommon in parts 

 of Yorkshire, and is resident in small numbers in Northumberland and Durham, 

 while on the west side it is only known as a rare casual visitor to Cumberland and 

 Lancashire. In Wales, on the other hand, it is plentiful in many localities from 

 Pembroke to Merioneth, and nowhere rare. In Scotland it has occurred once or 

 twice, and has not been obtained in Ireland since 1854. [F. c. H. .1. | 



3. Migration. Resident. In addition to a certain amount of local 

 wandering in autumn, there is some evidence of a general movement towards the 

 south of England, inasmuch as the species appears to become rather commoner in 

 Kent on the approach of winter (of. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 232). But any 

 movements that may exist must be practically confined to the breeding-area, for 

 the species is very seldom recorded beyond it : there are only a very few records 

 from Ireland and Scotland (cf. Ussher and Warren, />'. of Ireland, 1900, p. 107 ; 

 S, Hinders. ///. Man. B. B., 2nd ed., 1899, p. 273 ; and Gladstone, B. of Dumfries- 

 shire, 1910, p. 156). On Heligoland the species has occurred once (cf. Gatke, 

 Vogdwartf Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 426). [A. L. T. ) 



4. Nest and Eggs. The nesting-hole is bored directly into the trunk of a 

 tree, and then descends perpendicularly for about a foot or so, ending in a roughly 

 rounded chamber. Occasionally an old hole is used for some years successively, 

 but generally a new one is made annually. In a few cases a natural cavity is 

 enlarged and deepened, but this is exceptional. The height above the ground is 

 very variable, some nests being less than 3 feet above it, while others may be as 

 much as 30 or 40 feet high. Records of the share of the two sexes in nest-boring 

 appear to be lacking. Fragments of wood are left lying beneath the nesting-place. 

 The eggs, generally 5-7 in number, rarely 8, are laid on a bed of chips of dead 



