234 THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER 



favour of the Scandinavian origin of some, at least, 

 of the Scottish pied woodpeckers. The birds of 

 northern Europe differ considerably in various dimen- 

 sions from the English type. They have longer wings 

 and shorter, stouter bills than the English birds, 

 and there is a slight difference in coloration. Mr. 

 Evans has examined three pied woodpeckers in 

 breeding plumage recently killed in the south-east of 

 Scotland, and refers them all to the English race; 

 but a fourth, killed in December 1907, near Dunbar, 

 has been pronounced by Dr. Hartert to be a 'most 

 typical Swedish bird.' So also are two specimens 

 in the Perth Museum. 



We appear, therefore, to have two distinct lines of 

 immigration ; one a short and simple one, across the 

 Cheviots, the other a long and hazardous one, across 

 the German Ocean. It is to be hoped that the 

 matter may be allowed to rest there. Most of us don't 

 care a hayseed whence woodpeckers come to us, so 

 long as they do come; and it would be intolerable 

 if, to determine a point of less than secondary impor- 

 tance, more breeding woodpeckers should be done to 

 death, as was the case in 1903, near Haddington, where 

 a pair were shot at their nest, which contained four 

 well-fledged young. 



Those who have not examined an adult pied wood- 

 pecker closely can have little idea what a gay livery 

 he wears. Black and white, laid on with a bold brush, 

 are the dominant hues on the upper parts, but the 

 breast is buff, the back of the head and the feathers 

 about the vent are scarlet, and so are the irides. 



