THEEE-TOED WOODPECKER. 67 



Tyrol, Austria, and the Amoor region. It has also occurred in Sals- 

 burg, Savoy, Bohemia, Galicia, and Poland. 



In a private letter the late Mr. Wheelwright writes to me, — "This 

 bird, the Three-toed Woodpecker, is scarcely so common anywhere in 

 Sweden as any of the others; but in Lapland it is the commonest of 

 all the species. It comes into Wermerland in the winter, but does not 

 I think breed with us. It has never been seen in Scania, although 

 it has once been shot in Denmark. It is not shy, and prefers level 

 to rocky woods. In the winter all the Woodpeckers in our forests 

 secrete themselves by day in holes of trees. In all the Woodpeckers 

 the colours appear to grow more distinct with age.'-" 



In his ''Ten Years in Sweden," he further remarks, "It is common 

 during the breeding- season from the north of Wermerland up to at 

 least Torneo Lapland. In the winter they wander further south. I 

 have remarked that they are most partial to such forests as have been 

 destroyed by bush fire. Very common in Finland. Appears to have 

 been admitted into the British fauna on extremely doubtful authority. 

 I never found more than four eggs in one nest. In Lapland they go 

 to nest the latest of all the Woodpeckers in June." 



The following I take from Dresser's "Birds of Europe," now in 

 course of publication: — "Although possessing one toe less than the 

 other species of Woodpeckers, this bird is an equally agile climber, 

 and is indeed if anything more adroit in its movements than many of 

 its congeners. Wherever the fire has devastated a portion of the forest, 

 there it may be looked for, as the insects which frequent the scathed 

 trees form its chief food. Especially during the bright clear winter 

 mornings its busy tapping may be heard; and the number of insects 

 devoured by one bird is almost incredible. 



"In its movements it is quick and active, and will rapidly move in 

 a spiral direction up a tree, carefully examining every likely place in 

 search of its food, and then suddenly flying to another tree, will con- 

 tinue its search with the greatest assiduity. When there is a scarcity 

 of insect food, it will at times feed on berries, but only when driven 

 to do so from a failui-e of its usual support. The nest is like that of 

 the Greater Spotted Woodpecker — a hole made by the bird itself, and 

 on the bottom of the nest-hole it deposits its eggs, generally from four 

 to six in number." 



A series of eggs in Dresser's collection, obtained in Torneo Lapland, 

 measure from |^ by |^ to f^ by ^f of an inch, and are pure glossy 

 white in colour. In shape they resemble those of the Middle Spotted 

 Woodpecker. 



"Dr. Rey tells us that he has measured twenty eggs of this bird 



