NOTES. 29 



l^order, so that it is not unlikely that the example was my 

 t)ird. It was in perfect plumage when it escaped. I believe 

 it was a male. It was very tame, and would feed from hand. 



G. M. Beresford-Webb. 



THE BLACK WOODPECKER IN ENGLAND. 



Many are the records of the occurrence of this bird in England, 

 but it has been clearly shown that even the apparently best 

 .authenticated instances are untenable. This is only what 

 might be expected of a bird which, although of strong flight, 

 is strictly an inhabitant of the pine forests " from the Arctic 

 Circle to Spain," and is a most unlikely species to wander 

 far from its natural habitat, while the localities in this country 

 which are suitable to its habits are very restricted. But, on the 

 other hand, some of the more recent records are so precise, 

 and the bird itself is so remarkable in appearance, that they 

 cannot be dismissed offhand. This particularly applies to 

 the numerous reports of its appearance on the borders of 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, in the neighbourhood of Thetford, 

 Brandon, and Euston, perhaps the most suitable locality 

 that could be found for it in East Anglia. 



The Rev. E. T. Daubeny, in recording several instances 

 ■of the supposed occurrence of this bird in Euston Park, 

 Ixworth, and Brandon, in 1897, remarked that it was " well- 

 known that Lord Lilford liberated some of these birds towards 

 the end of the last century," but I could obtain no confir- 

 mation of this, and so the matter stood till the year 1903, 

 when, much to my surprise, my friend, Mr. W. H. Tuck, 

 then living at Tostock, now at Bury St. Edmunds, informed 

 me that a friend of his, whose name he was not at liberty to 

 mention, brought seven or eight young Great Black Wood- 

 peckers from Sweden in the year 1897. These were seen by 

 Mr. Tuck, who further stated that they were placed in an 

 aviary near Brandon for about two months, after which they 

 were allowed to regain their liberty. This fact will, doubtless, 

 account for the presence of the birds reported to have been 

 seen in that neighbourhood, and perhaps for others which 

 may have wandered further afield. 



Mr. Tuck was requested not to mention this fact for a 

 specified period, which accounts for his silence till 1903, but 

 he quite agrees with the writer that it is most reprehensible 

 that birds or insects should be thus secretly introduced to 

 the disturbance of the British fauna. 



Thos. Southwell. 



