79 



common all over Devon ; and in Cornwall, says Mr. Eocld, it is " very common in the eastern wood- 

 lands ; very rare in West Cornwall, and almost unknown in the neighbourhood of Penzance." 



Respecting its distribution in Scandinavia, Nilsson writes : — 



" It is pretty common in Skane and the other provinces far up to the north. Near Gothen- 

 burg it is plentiful all the year round. I have also seen it north of the mountain-ridges, but 

 only in the valleys and never on the fells." Mr. Robert Collett, in his excellent little work 

 on the Ornithology of Christiania, states that the Green Woodpecker is found in most of the 

 green woods in that vicinity, particularly such as are a little out of the way and contain old 

 aspen trees. 



Kja^rbolling states that it " occurs all over Denmark where there are woods, but nowhere 

 very common : it is more of a wanderer than a true resident." It has not yet been met with in 

 Finland ; and we are ignorant of the extent of its range in Russia. Meyer records it from 

 Livonia. In Germany it is generally distributed, and common; and Mr. H. M. Labouchere 

 writes to us : — " The Green Woodpecker frequents the pine-woods in the southern provinces of 

 Holland ; " and Mr. Keulemans informs us that it is seen throughout that country from September 

 till the end of November. It breeds in some of the wooded localities in Guelderland and in the 

 provinces near the German frontier, but is rarely found breeding in the western or more watery 

 parts of Holland. " I do not know," he adds, " whether it is a resident or not ; I myself have 

 seen it in April as well as in November, but never in winter." De Selys-Longchamps says it is 

 sedentary and common all over Belgium, as also does Godron in Lorraine. It is abundant all 

 over France, being mentioned by Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye as plentiful and resident 

 in Provence. In Savoy Bailly says it appears about the end of March. 



We have stated above the reasons why we are at present unable to include this species in 

 the avifauna of Spain, though we think it most probable that it is found in that country, as well 

 as the other species of Gecinus. From Italy Count Salvadori writes: — "This is the most 

 common Italian Woodpecker, both in the mountainous districts and in the plains." 



Dr. Giglioli, writing from the neighbourhood of Pisa, says : — 



"The species of Woodpeckers I have observed are few. I found Dryobates major and 

 D. minor pretty common; while the pine-forest called the Tombolo, which extends from here to 

 Leghorn, resounds with the loud cry of the Green Woodpecker [Gecinus viridis)." 



According to Professor Doderlein, this species is confined to the large woods of the central 

 portion of Sicily, and is rather rare elsewhere. Lord Lilford tells us he only once saw this bird 

 in Albania, never in Epirus or Corfu ; the locality where it was observed was the river Dwin, in 

 December 1857. 



Lindermayer observes that in Greece " this Woodpecker is very rare, and is only found in 

 those oak and chestnut groves which are at least 1000 to 1200 feet above the sea-level, and is 

 therefore seen in the north of the island of Eubcea, in Akarnania, and Messina. It certainly 

 does not occur on the islands of the Greek archipelago." 



Messrs. Elwes and Buckley, writing on the Birds of Turkey, say that it is " common in all 

 the woods of Turkey, and differs in no respect from English specimens." In Southern Russia, 

 Von Nordmann says " it is not rare in Volhynia and Podolia, and very common between the 

 Black Sea and the Caspian, but does not go high up in the mountains." Mr. H. J. Ross has 



