20 



malar stripe produced backwards on to the sides of the neck, and joined just at the extremity of the 

 occiput with the black of the head, so as to cut off the white of the ear-coverts from the white of the 

 neck; scapulars white; wing-coverts black like the back, the innermost greater coverts nearest the 

 back white like the scapulars, forming a continuous white patch with the latter ; quills black, chequered 

 on both webs with small white marks ; the first long primary almost unspotted, the second containing 

 five and the third six of these white spots ; tail black, the three outermost feathers irregularly barred 

 and marked with white, the latter colour extending over the apical half of the two outer feathers ; under 

 surface of the body more or less creamy white, the lower part of the abdomen, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts crimson ; on each side of the breast a broad crescent-like line of black feathers extending down 

 from each side of the neck ; under wing-coverts white, a little chequered with black ; bill dark blue- 

 grey; feet greenish grey; iris pale reddish. Total length 9'3 inches, culmen l'l, wing 5 - 8, tail 4 - 0, 

 tarsus 095. 



Adult Female. Exactly similar to the adult male, but not so bright about the vent, and at once to be di- 

 stinguished by the absence of the crimson occipital crest. Total length 8 - 9 inches, culmen Tl, wing 

 5-65, tail 3-6, tarsus 0-95. 



Young Male. Similar to the adult birds as regards the character of the markings, but differing from both 

 the old male and female in having the entire head crimson from the hinder part of the frontal band to 

 the occiput. 



Nestlings. Even in the nest the sexes seem to differ ; for some birds, presumably females, have the crimson 

 extending only to the middle of the crown, while others, which we suppose to be males, have this 

 crimson extending right as far as the occiput. The feathers over and round the eye are all white, and 

 a line of black feathers separates the crimson crown from the eye, forming, as it were, a double eyebrow 

 of white and then black. The sides of the face are for the most part white, the malar streak being 

 only very indistinctly indicated, while the black line which, in the adult, passes behind the ear and joins 

 the last-named stripe to the black of the crown, is, in the very young nestling, quite obsolete ; but there 

 is evidence that it is developed before the bird leaves the nest, and in full-grown young birds is suffi- 

 ciently plain, though of course not so strongly and broadly marked as in the adult. Although the 

 scapulars are quite white, the greater wing-coverts nearest to them are varied with black, and the quills 

 are tipped conspicuously with white ; the young bird, when full-grown, still has these white tips to the 

 wing ; but when quite adult the extremities of the quills are black, and the nearest white spot is some 

 distance from the apex of the quill, being further removed in the primaries than in the secondaries. 

 The amount of white on the outer tail-feathers seems to be greater in proportion in the very young 

 birds. The pectoral half-collar is very feebly developed, and the crimson of the vent is only sbghtly 

 pronounced. The specimens described were taken from the nest in June ; and by the end of September 

 or beginning of October the young birds of the year are in full moult, putting on their mature livery. 

 At the time that the red feathers on the crown are shed and black ones assumed, the black feathers of 

 the occiput give way to the red ones which are to form the occipital crest. As a rule the young spe- 

 cimens killed in England have no black mixed with the white feathers of the scapulars, although there 

 are generally some black variations to be seen on the innermost white greater coverts, which are 

 generally hidden by the scapulars; but a specimen shot at Greatham, in the county of Durham, on the 

 21st of October, 1863, and now in Canon Tristram's collection, has slight remains of black markings 

 on the scapulars as well as on the greater wing-coverts. A specimen sent to us by Mr. A. Benzon, of 

 Copenhagen, and killed in the neighbourhood of that town on the 13th of September 1870, has these 

 parts very much mixed with black, while on the breast are the remains of small black stripes. The 

 most extraordinary specimen of a Pied Woodpecker that we have yet seen is one lent to us by Mr. J. H. 



