SCANSORLE. ; 329 
stomach is nearly membranous, and they have no cca, still | they also 
eat fruit. Fearful and wary, they pass most of their time in a soli- 
tary manner, but during the nuptial season they may frequently be 
heard summoning their females by loud and rapid tapping on a dry 
branch. They build once a year in holes of trees, and each sex alter- 
nately broods upon the eggs until they are hatched. There are six 
or seven species in Europe. 
P. martius, L.; Grand Pic noir; Enl. 596; Naum. 131. (The 
Great Black Woodpecker.) Almost as large as a Crow, and 
entirely black; a beautiful red forms a calotte in the male, but 
a mere spot on the occiput in the female. It prefers the pine 
. forests of the North. 
P. viridis; Pic vert; Enl. 371; Naum. 132. (The Green 
Woodpecker’) Size of a turtle-dove; green above; whitish be- 
neath; the calotte red; rump, yellow; one of the most beautiful 
birds of Europe. The young are marked with black spots be- 
neath, and with white ones onthe mantle. It prefers inhabiting 
the woodland plains, and is partial to the beech and elm. It 
also seeks food on the ground. 
; P. canus, Gm.; Edw. 65; Naum. 133. <A species closely 
allied to the preceding, but smaller, more of an ash colour, the 
beak more slender, and with a black moustache. The only red 
about the male is on the top of the head, and there is none on 
the female. It is not found far to the south, and is more rarely 
seen in France than the preceding, of whose habits it partakes. 
Its favourite food consists of ants. 
P. major; L’Epeiche; Enl. 196, the male, 595, the females 
Naum. 134. (The Great Spotted Woodpecker.) Size of a 
Thrush, varied with black and white above; black back and 
rump; white beneath; red about the vent; a spot of the same 
colour on the occiput of the male. The calotte of the young 
bird is almost wholly red; it prefers evergreen trees, frequently 
approaches our dwellings, but never lights on the ground. 
P. medius; Moyen Epeiche; Enl. 6113 Naum. 136, f. 1 and 2. 
Somewhat less; the whole calotte red in both sexes; rump, 
black; under part of the tail, reddish. Inhabits temperate and 
southern Europe. 
P. minor; Petit Epeiche; Enl. 598; Naum. 136, f. 2 and 3. 
(The Little Spotted Woodpecker.) Size of a Finch varie- 
gated with black and white above; greyish-white beneath; some 
red on the head of the male only. From the north and middle 
of Europe. It is asserted that it searches for ants on foot; but 
Naumann assures‘us that such is not the fact. 
P. lewconotos, Bechst.; Naum. 135. A spotted Woodpecker 
Vout. L—2R 
