218 ZYGODACTYLES. 



species ; for although it is the largest of the spotted ones, it 

 is so far from being the largest of British wood-peckers, that 

 it is not half the size of the green one. The spotted wood- 

 pecker is about nine inches long, twelve in the extent of the 

 wings, and three ounces in weight. The green one is four 

 inches longer, nine more in the wings, and weighs seven 

 ounces. The spotted is therefore the least adapted for long 

 flights, and accordingly it is not so generally distributed, 

 being found only in the woods, and chiefly in the wild and 

 lonely ones of the north, where the decaying pine is its fa- 

 vourite tree. But, with allowance for difference of situation, 

 the habits of all the wood-peckers are the same, so that one 

 description answers for the whole. The forehead, cheeks, 

 ear-coverts, scapulars, a patch on each, the neck, part of the 

 coverts of the wings, the throat, breast, and belly, of the 

 great spotted wood-pecker, are white ; and there are white 

 spots on the quills and tail feathers, except the two middle 

 ones. The hind head is deep, the vent greyish red, and all 

 the rest black, with the exception of the tarsi and toes, 

 which are blackish grey. The female wants the red on the 

 head. The young have the crown of the head red and the 

 hind head black ; and as these colours are reversed in the 

 mature bird, the old and young have sometimes been called 

 different species. 



THE LESSER SPOTTED WOOD-PECKER (PlCUS minor). 



This is a very little bird, only six inches long and twelve 

 broad, and less than one ounce in weight. It inhabits the 

 opposite parts of the country to the last species, being found 

 only in the west and south of England. Its prevailing colour 

 on the upper part is black, with dull red on the hind head 

 and partially on the crown, white markings on the head, 

 similar to those of the former species, white spots on the 

 wings and back, and the outside feathers at the tail white, 



