( 481 ) 
THE GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER IN ENGLAND. 
By E. Camsripce Puiiuties, F.I..S. 
THe disinclination on the part of Professor Newton and 
Messrs. Seebohm and Saunders to give Picus martius a place in 
the List of British Birds is now well known to ornithologists, 
and doubtless their decision was arrived at after a careful and 
painstaking enquiry. It is not with the slightest intention of 
setting my humble opinion against theirs that I offer these few 
remarks. The publication, in the ‘ Birds of Herefordshire,’ of a 
distinct statement of the occurrence of Picus martius in that 
county has reopened the question, and as the statement has 
called forth many letters on the subject, it has seemed to me 
worth while to notice the reported occurrences of this bird in 
this paper, alluding principally to those mentioned in the ‘ Birds 
of Herefordshire,’ in the hope that its omission from the List of 
British Birds may be reconsidered. 
First, I must mention Mr. Harting’s list in his well-known 
and useful ‘ Handbook of British Birds.’ There he enumerates 
thirty-three instances of its reported occurrence, out of which 
eight are considered to be doubtful. Professor Newton, however, 
who seems to have taken great pains in the matter, states, in 
the 4th edition of Yarrell’s Birds, that Mr. J. H. Gurney has 
critically revised this list, and has completely dlsposed of the 
claims set up in nearly every instance. I may, however, point out 
that the two shot at Nottingham, and referred to by Macgillivray, 
whose name carries considerable weight, seem to have been 
certified by the person who procured them. 
I next come to those instances recorded in the ‘Birds of 
Herefordshire,’ and which have attracted far greater attention 
than anything else in the book, as evidenced by the controversy 
which has arisen on the subject. The statements of the Rev. 
Clement Ley are undoubtedly of the greatest value, because he 
has heard the cry of the bird when on the Continent, and even 
an adverse critic says that his statements are deserving of 
the greatest consideration. The Rev. Clement Ley states with 

* Read at the Annual Meeting of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 
at Hereford, October 3rd, 1889, 
