40 



black, lower portion white, varied a little here and there with black markings ; upper tail-coverts black ; 

 scapulars black, becoming white towards the tip ; wing-coverts black, the greater ones marked with a 

 very distinct white spot near the tip of the feather, forming a double alar bar; quills brownish black, 

 a Httle paler towards the tips, spotted on both webs with white, the innermost secondaries barred 

 across with the same colour; tail black, the middle feathers entirely so, the three outer rectrices 

 barred and spotted with white, the external ones especially so, so that they appear quite white with 

 black transverse bars ; throat and centre of the chest yellowish white ; upper part of the breast whitish, 

 becoming gradually tinged with vermilion towards the abdomen and under tail-coverts, which are 

 entirely of this colour ; the sides of the body for the whole length longitudinally striped with distinct 

 lines of black ; under wing-coverts varied with black and white ; bill horn-blue ; feet leaden grey ; iris 

 nut-brown. Total length 103 inches, culmen 1*5, wing 5 - 7, tail 3 - 7, tarsus 10. 



Adult Female. Exactly similar to the adult male in most respects, but at once to be distinguished by its 

 black crown. The black behind the ear seems also to be more plainly developed, and in one specimen we 

 have examined actually connects the cheek-stripe with the crown. Total length 10 inches, culmen 1*3, 

 wing 5*7, tail 3"7, tarsus 1*0. 



Obs. The young of both sexes in their first plumage have red on the head. In the males the base of this 

 part is of a blackish ash, much deeper than in the adult bird, and it is covered by the points of the 

 feathers, which are of a pale red, this becoming yellowish at the extreme hinder part. In the female 

 the red is paler and more yellowish, and does not extend so far on the nape. Besides this, they differ 

 from the adult birds in wanting the red on the belly, of which, however, a trace remains on the under 

 tail-coverts. The flanks are greyish, with the striations larger, paler, and less denned than is the case 

 in the adult birds. The extremities of the primaries are edged with white along the entire breadth. 

 {Dr. TaczanowsM, in epist.) 



The true Picus leuconotus has a very peculiar range, being found only in Northern and Central 

 Europe. In Siberia the bird varies somewhat, but in our opinion is not to be specifically sepa- 

 rated ; for the characters given by Professor Sundevall (in his admirable synopsis of the Wood- 

 peckers) for this bird, which he rightly considers to be nothing more than an eastern form of the 

 ordinary species, do not hold good in a pair of Japanese birds collected by Mr. Whitely, and lent 

 to us by Mr. Gould. According to Professor Sundevall, the Siberian bird is a little larger than 

 the European White-backed Woodpecker, and has the white broader and the black narrower, 

 the stripes on the side of the belly less distinctly pronounced ; the black bars on the tail also are 

 narrower, and partake more of the character of spots ; and sometimes also the fourth tail-feather 

 is marked with white. The Japanese birds, however, before alluded to, do not show these 

 differences when compared with Swedish examples ; for the stripes on the flanks are broader, and 

 the white on the wings is narrower, while there is not the slightest difference in the markings of 

 the tail, the fourth rectrix being unspotted. Dr. von Schrenck states that the specimens collected 

 by him in the Amoor country agreed exactly with European specimens, except as regards the 

 markings on the tail, two of the Siberian birds having the two central feathers of the tail black 

 and unspotted, and the two next also, while on the third feather there is only a small yellowish 

 spot near the apex. Under these circumstances, therefore, we have not considered Picus cirris to 

 be a distinct species from P. leuconotus. 



A real difference, however, exists in the White-backed Woodpecker from South-eastern 



