280 I'.KLTISH BIRDS. 



THE BARRED WOODPECKER. 



LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER, OR HICKWAI.L. 



(Picus itu'/ior. Linn. Pic cpciclicttc, Temm.) 



THIS is the smallest of the British Woodpeckers, 

 being only five inches and a half in length; weight 

 nearly one ounce. Its general plumage is black 

 and white, like that of the Pied Woodpecker, but 

 without the red at the vent and under the tail; it 

 also differs from that bird in having its back and 

 scapulars crossed with alternate stripes of black 

 and white. It is prettily barred with white spots 

 on the tips of the lesser and greater coverts, and 

 the secondaries ; the primaries have much the same 

 appearance, from the indented white spots with 

 which they are crossed. The crown of the head is 

 crimson; cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck 

 white, but divided by an irregular black stripe, 



