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being fledged and able to take care of themselves by 

 the middle of July. Yarrell says he once saw some 

 young ones kept in confinement by one of the 

 keepers at Kensington Gardens, in which place these 

 birds are rather frequently to be found : they were 

 climbing all about the inside of their cage, which was 

 hung against a large tree near the lodge. 



In plumage the Greater Spotted Woodpecker is a 

 very handsome bird, conspicuous from the very 

 decided contrast of colour which it presents. The 

 following description is taken from a bird shot in 

 Combe Wood, near here, in April, and kindly pre- 

 sented to me by Mr. Winter the day it was shot. 

 The beak is dark horn-colour, bluish grey (inclining 

 to white) on the under part of the lower mandible ; 

 irides red ; forehead, just over the beak, and space 

 under the eyes, and a narrow streak over it and the 

 ear- co verts, white ; head black ; in the adult male 

 there is a band of crimson at the back of the neck ; 

 there is a streak of black from the base of the beak, 

 under the ear-coverts, down the side of the neck to 

 the breast, and from it a streak of black behind the 

 ear- coverts, which, as well as the back of the neck, 

 are black, except one well- defined spot of white 

 on each side ; the back, rump and tail- coverts are 

 black ; the scapulars, some of the greater coverts of 

 the tertials, white ; the lesser wing- coverts and all 

 the rest of the greater-coverts black ; primary quills 

 black, brownish towards the tips, with several well- 



