252 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



defined spots of white on the outer webs ; all the rest 

 of the quills are black, spotted with white on both 

 webs ; the feathers of the tail are very strong and 

 pointed, except the two outer on each side, which 

 are rounded at the top ; the four middle feathers are 

 black, the two next are tipped with white, with a spot 

 of black in it, and all the rest are white towards the 

 tips, spotted with black, and black at the base ; the 

 throat is white ; all the rest of the under parts dirty 

 white, except the vent and under tail-coverts, which 

 are red; legs and toes dusky grey; claws black. 

 Yarrell says the young birds of the year " do not 

 differ from the adult, except in having the whole of 

 the top of the head red, not so bright as the red 

 patch at the back of the neck of the old male, nor so 

 pure, having a few black feathers mixed with it. 



The egg is a shining white, like that of the last 

 species, but smaller in proportion to the size of the 

 bird. 



LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER, Picus minor. 

 The Lesser Spotted, or as it is sometimes called 

 the "Barred" Woodpecker, I believe to be much 

 more common than the last-mentioned species : it 

 certainly is so in my own neighbourhood, where I 

 have never met with the larger species, nearer than 

 the one just before mentioned. There appears, 

 however, to be some doubt as to which is the more 

 common : the Rev. A. P. Morres, writing in the 

 'Zoologist' for 1865, asks the question, and adds 



