98 



Lord Lilford writes, in his paper on the birds observed by him in the Ionian Islands &c. : — 

 " I saw a fine specimen of this bird near Cettinge, in Montenegro, in August 1857 ; he settled 

 on a tree close to me ; and I watched him for several minutes, much regretting that I had not 

 a gun." 



In Greece Lindermayer records it as rare. He obtained a specimen from the island of 

 Euboea ; and Von der Miihle procured it in Rumelia. In the latter place the shepherds say it is 

 found all the year round. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley write : — " We observed one near Babadagh, 

 in Bulgaria ; and it has been shot several times near Constantinople by Mr. Bobson." Dr. Otto 

 Finsch also remarks the presence of the present species in Bulgaria, where, he says, it is not so 

 common as Gecinus viridis. 



Dr. Taczauowski tells us that it is found everywhere in Poland, but nowhere numerous. It 

 generally frequents the non-evergreen woods. According to Professor Kessler it is very common 

 near Kiew, and, according to M. BogdanofF, is found both near Kazan and Astrachan. Pallas 

 says it is not migratory in Eussia, where it is found from St. Petersburg to the Volga, even in 

 the southern parts, and is a very common bird throughout the whole of Siberia. Professor von 

 Nordmann says it is common on the south side of the Black Sea. In the forests of Abasia it is 

 numerous, and feeds principally on ants and the caterpillars of Elater parreyssii, which elsewhere 

 is a rare insect. It is equally common in the countries bordering the Caspian Sea. According 

 to Goebel it is a resident at Uman, in Southern Eussia. Menetries procured it in the gardens of 

 Kizil-Agaz, and near Lenkoran. Dr. Eadcle found it in the Amoor country, and writes that there 

 it avoids the large conifer woods, frequenting the birch woods in the mountains, or those on the 

 banks of the river. Like the other Woodpeckers it is a wanderer, and in the winter was rare in 

 the Bureja mountains. He found it in company with Thrushes during the season of migration. 

 Dr. L. von Schrenck observed it on the shores of the Ussuri, near the village of Agdiki, on the 

 19th of August, and procured a female. He did not observe it elsewhere on the Amoor. 

 Mr. Swinhoe includes it among the birds of China as having occurred near Pekin ; and it is also 

 found in Japan, where Mr. H. Whitely says it was " common in the large forests in the vicinity 

 of Hakodadi." 



In its habits this species closely resembles the Green Woodpecker, whose place it takes in 

 the high north, where the latter becomes rare. It is scarcely as shy as that bird, but, like it, 

 affects green woods, avoiding the dark conifer growth, or only frequenting such groves as are of 

 mixed conifer and non-evergreen trees. It is not a strict resident, as, like its congeners, it under- 

 takes short or more extended wanderings in the autumn, to which it is probably impelled by the 

 scarcity of suitable food in its breeding-haunts. These wanderings commence late in the autumn ; 

 and in March or April the bird returns to its summer haunts, to undertake the cares of incubation. 

 Each bird chooses its regular district, which it works over daily during the autumn and winter 

 season, brooking no intruder on its domain. Its note closely resembles that of the Green Wood- 

 pecker, but is not so loud or harsh. Naumann writes that in the spring both the male and 

 female utter a peculiar clear call, like klii Mih klih Jclyh klyh kluh kluh kluh klilh, sinking or 

 deepening in tone from syllable to syllable, so that the last notes are much deeper than the 

 commencing ones. Its food consists of all sorts of insects that are found in wood, caterpillars, 

 larvae, earthworms, and especially ants, of which latter it is especially fond, and often visits the 



