456 GECINUS 



655. GREY-HEADED GREEN WOODPECKER. 

 OECINUS CANUS. 



Gecinus canus (Gmel.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 434 (1788) ; (Naum). v. p. 286, Taf. 

 133, figs. 1, 2 ; (Gould), B. of E. iii. pi. 227 ; Dresser, v. p. S5, 

 pi. 288 ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 51 ; Hargitt, Cat. B. Br. Mus. 

 xviii. p.*52 ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. p. 148 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 6. 

 p. C97. 



Pic cendre", French ; Picchio cenerino, Ital. ; Grauspecht, 

 German ; Kleine-groene-Speclit, Dutch ; Graaspette, Dan. and 

 Norweg. ; Gr&spett, Swed. ; Haamapainen-Tikka, Finn. ; Sadozo- 

 lovoi-Dyatell, Russ. ; Yama-gera, Jap. 



c ad. (Sweden). Head and neck grey ; nasal plumes tipped with black ; 

 fore-crown bright crimson, the hind-crown streaked with blackish ; lores 

 and malar stripe blackish ; upper parts green, the lower back, rump, and 

 upper tail-coverts golden yellow ; quills and tail brownish, the former 

 barred with dull white, the middle rectrices indistinctly barred with lighter 

 ashy brown ; throat grey ; the rest of the under parts greenish ; bill bluish, 

 grey at the base below ; legs greenish or bluish grey ; iris varying from 

 pinkish white to brownish red. Culmen T4, wing 5 '7, tail 4 '3, tarsus 

 I'O inch. The female lacks the crimson on the crown, and the malar 

 stripe is rather indistinct. 



Hob. Europe generally, from the Trondhjemfjord to the 

 south of Europe, where it becomes scarcer; has occurred in 

 Lapland; not found in Great Britain; of rare occurrence on 

 the Iberian peninsula. In the south-east it is found in the 

 Caucasus ; in Asia it ranges across Siberia to Yezo in Japan, 

 and south to Corea, North China, and Manchuria. 



In habits it resembles its ally G. viridis, and like that bird 

 affects non- evergreen woods in preference to conifers, but it is 

 scarcely so shy. As a rule it is a resident or only a partial 

 migrant throughout its range. Its note is a clear call, like 

 Idii, klih, klih, klyh, klyh, kluh, kluh, kluh, kluh, gradually 

 deepening in tone, and is not so loud or harsh as the cry of 

 G. mridis. It feeds on insects of various kinds, caterpillars, 

 larvae, and especially on ants and their pupae, and when insects 

 are scarce will eat berries. It bores its nest-hole usually in 

 a soft-wood tree at from 10 to 20 feet above the ground, 

 and in May or early in June deposits 6 to 8 glossy white eggs, 

 rather blunter, as a rule, at the larger end than those of 

 G. mridis, and measuring about 1*21 by 0'85. 



Dr. Stejneger separated the Japanese bird subspecifically as 

 G. canus jcssoensis (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 1886, p. 106), and the 



