152 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



all, is decidedly the least common. Curiously enough 

 the exact reverse is the case in many a southern 

 shire; in Devonshire, for instance, we may see more 

 Green Woodpeckers in a week than we might see 

 in a year in not a few of our northern woods. The 

 two Spotted Woodpeckers are none the less interest- 

 ing, however, although unfortunately they are much 

 more difficult to discover, and apt to be thought much 

 rarer than they really are. The Lesser Spotted 

 Woodpecker is by far the most restricted in its dis- 

 tribution ; indeed, we doubt if it is found at all north 

 of Yorkshire. The Greater Spotted Woodpecker 

 ranges a little farther north, but we are very near its 

 normal limits in this direction in Yorkshire. It is 

 somewhat remarkable that the forests of Scotland 

 are devoid of Woodpeckers; whilst Ireland is equally 

 unfortunate, none of the three species being known 

 to breed there. This seems all the more extra- 

 ordinary when we know that all three species breed 

 up to much higher latitudes on the Continent, the 

 two Spotted species going up to or beyond the Arctic 

 circle, the Green species to a higher degree than the 

 Shetlands. We have met with the Lesser Spotted 

 Woodpecker in very small copses, and even in gardens 

 and parks. During winter both species may be met 

 with amongst timber, which they never frequent 

 during the breeding season; in fact, they are given 

 to wandering, and may be detected during the cold 



