DENDROCOPUS 449 



644. MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 

 DENDROCOPUS MEDIUS. 



Dendrocopus'inedius (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 176 (1766) ; (Naum.), v. 

 p. 320, Taf. 136, figs. 1, 2 ; (Gould), B. of E. iii. pi. 230 ; Hargitt 

 Cat. B. Br. Mas. xviii. p. 286 ; (Dresser), v. p. 47, pi. 281. 



Picmar, French ; Picapau malhado, Portug ; Picapuereo 

 Picorelinclw, Span. ; Picckio-mezzano, Ital. ; Mittelspecht, 

 Germ. ; Midddstc-bonte-Specht, Dutch ; Melltmspette, Dan. ; 

 Mellanspet, Swed. 



ad. (S. Europe). Forehead buffy white ; crown rich vermilion ; 

 sides of the head white, tinged with grey on the ear-coverts, and brown on 

 the cheeks ; on the sides of the neck a triangular patch of black from the 

 hind-cheeks to the sides of the breast, passing also behind the ear-coverts 

 nearly to the crown ; nape and back black, tinged with grey on the rump ; 

 scapulars and the innermost wing-coverts white ; quills blackish, externally 

 spotted with white on the secondaries, forming four bars ; tail black, the 

 outer feathers barred and spotted with white ; throat white ; chest yellowish 

 white, having 011 each side a crescentic line of black, nearly joined in the 

 middle ; abdomen rose colour ; flanks striped with black ; bill plumbeous 

 paler at the base ; legs plumbeous ; iris cinnabar red. Culmen TO, 

 wing 4'8, tail 3'3, tarsus 0'8 inch. The female differs little from the male 

 being duller in colour. 



Hob. Western, Central and Southern Europe, from Southern 

 Sweden to the Mediterranean, east to Southern Russia and 

 the Caucasus ; not occurring in Great Britain, Norway, or 

 Finland. 



Although it resembles .V. major in its general habits, it 

 differs in affecting deciduous woods and groves, but seldom 

 being seen in conifer woods, and is often seen in meadows 

 where old oaks are scattered about, or in gardens, or orchards. 

 Its flight is swifter and lighter than that of D. major, but 

 its note is very similar. It feeds on insects and their larvae 

 but also eats seeds and nuts. It bores its nest-hole in a 

 non-evergreen tree, usually at a considerable height, and in 

 April deposits five glossy white eggs which measure about 

 0-93 by 0-72. 



645. SUBSP. DENDKOCOPUS SANCTI-JOHANNIS. 



Dendrocopus sancti-johannis (Blanf.), Ibis, 1873, p. 226 ; (id.), E. Pers, 

 ii. p. 138, pi. ix. ; (Hargitt), ^Uat. B. Br. Mus. xviii. p. 288;. 

 (Radde) Orn. Cauc. p. 313, pi. xix. fig. 3 ; (Dresser), ix. p. 257. 



G G 



