6 



The following are Dr. von Schrenk's notes : — 



" Not less commonly than MiddendorfT found this bird in the Stanowoi mountains and on 

 their southern slope in Mantschuria, did I find it in the Amur country, and particularly to the 

 north of the lower part of the Amur river, where dense conifer forests extend to the banks of the 

 river and the sea-coast. Particularly in winter the stillness of these forests is broken by its 

 tapping, both on the Amur river, the Amur Liman, and the coast of the Bay of Castries, and 

 other places. I have also heard it in the forests of Saghalien, the upper and lower portions of 

 the Tymy river, at Tschlowo, Miwwach, &c. In spite of the dense undisturbed wilderness, it is 

 there a shy, suspicious bird. It seldom visits the edge of the forest and the habitations of the 

 natives on the river ; and directly I saw it there, it was off again. Thus I only once procured one, 

 on the 3rd (15th) of December, at the mouth of the Amur; it was a female, not differing from 

 the European bird. Comparatively early in the year, on the 2nd (14th) of March, I heard the 

 male, on the Amur, making the drumming sound which it makes shortly before the pairing-time. 

 It was in the forenoon of a bright mild day in March, near the village of Ssamahagdu, near the 

 mouth of the Chelasso, where, in a forest of pine and leaf trees, I had for a long time followed a 

 pair. Now a harsh cry, now a rattling, drumming noise sounded through the forest. Following 

 the sound, I saw the birds several times, and could distinguish the male on the top of the highest 

 trees, aspens and birches, making the drumming sound by repeated quick hard blows with his 

 bill. Higher up the Amur, where deciduous trees only are found, I did not see it ; and it pro- 

 bably keeps to the conifer growth in the interior of the country." 



The Great Black Woodpecker likewise occurs in Japan. Captain Blakiston, writing in ' The 

 Ibis ' on the ornithology of Northern Japan, states : — 



" In the woods were numbers of migratory Thrushes (Turdus fuscatus), the Great Black 

 Woodpecker (Dryocopus martins), other Black and White Woodpeckers, and a small species 

 (Picus kisuki) sporting about in company with two or three kinds of Tits and the Nuthatch 

 named at the head of this paragraph" (Sitta roseilia); and further on he says: — "My specimen 

 of the Great Black Woodpecker of Europe was obtained from a native birdcatcher ; but I several 

 times saw the bird wild in the woods near Hakodadi." 



Near Gefle, in Sweden, and in various parts of Finland, Dresser found this species not 

 uncommon, and had opportunities of observing it almost daily. It is a shy bird, and only by 

 using great caution is it possible to approach within gunshot. When they observe that they are 

 followed they are careful to keep a tree between them and their pursuer ; and when one gets to 

 within fifty or sixty yards they fly off, uttering their loud call, kree, kree, kree, but seldom go far. 

 As may be imagined from their size and powerful build, they tap the trees with good force ; so 

 that they can be heard at great distances, particularly in still weather, when they are engaged in 

 attacking any large dead bough. Their note, kree ah, kree ah, or kree, kree, kree, the latter 

 quickly repeated, may often be heard, more particularly before rainy weather. The flight is swift 

 though heavy, and is a succession of bow-shaped dips, like that of our Green Woodpecker. 

 They are seldom seen to fly any great distance, seldom further than across a valley from one hill- 

 side to another. Their food consists, we believe, entirely of insects, although they are said by 

 some authors to devour berries and seeds at times. Dresser, at least, who has examined the 

 contents of the stomachs of many of these birds, never found them to contain any thing else 



