190 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



parish (1798). It is also mentioned by Don in his Fauna of Forfar- 

 shire, published in 1812, and it is not unworthy of note that 

 Fleming, in his History of British Animals, does not restrict the 

 distribution of the Green Woodpecker as a British bird; indeed, his 

 Gaelic name almost proves it to have been, in his day, a familiar 

 Scottish species. I find it inserted, without any qualifying remarks, 

 in a list of the birds of Alnwick, by Mr Tate, Secretary to the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, which shows that it occurs not far 

 from the borders. 



Yarrell, in his second volume of British Birds (3d ed., 1856, p. 

 143), states that this species is found "over a portion of, if not 

 all, the wooded districts of Scotland," a statement which he 

 appears to have borrowed from Selby (111. Br. Orn. i., p. 372), 

 and which is certainly a mistake. 



According to Messrs Baikie and Heddle, one or two specimens 

 have been taken in Orkney. 



GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 

 PIOUS MAJOR. 

 Snagan- daraich . 



THIS woodpecker is known to breed in limited numbers in Banff- 

 shire, Aberdeenshire, and a portion of Inverness-shire. I have 

 examined specimens that were shot in these counties during the 

 breeding season of 1867-68. It has been a well-known winter 

 visitant throughout Scotland for the last fifty years, and specimens 

 have been obtained in almost every county. On the east coast 

 it has within the last few years become rather common. 

 Since 1861 very large flocks, chiefly consisting of young birds, 

 have at intervals visited the eastern counties; in almost every 

 case they landed first in Shetland, and afterwards found their way 

 to the mainland, spreading themselves from Banff and Aberdeen- 

 shires to the borders of Northumberland. Referring to these 

 unusual flights Dr Saxby says: "This species was unknown in 

 Shetland until September, 1861, when great numbers arrived at 

 Unst with a steady breeze from the south-east. I afterwards 

 heard of them in various parts of Shetland as well as in Orkney. 

 I examined many specimens : the first was an adult male, but all 

 the others were apparently young males of the year." In Sep- 



