274 GREEN WOODPECKER. 
but in Sweden and in the islands of the Baltic it does not range so 
far north; in Russia, it is very rare about St. Petersburg and is 
uncommon in the forests of the central provinces, though it reaches 
the Urals. In Denmark it is scarce, and in Heligoland it has only 
once been taken; but southward it is generally distributed through- 
out most of Europe down to Turkey, as well as in the Caucasus, 
Asia Minor and North Persia ; it is, however, very local in Greece, 
unknown in Sardinia and Corsica, and rare in Sicily, though 
common on the mainland of Italy. It is abundant in the French 
Pyrenees, but in the Iberian Peninsula its representative is the grey- 
cheeked G. sharpii, which links our bird to G. vail/anti of North 
Africa (with no red on the lower cheek-patch of the male), and, less 
closely, to G. canus of the Continent (the male of which has little 
red on the head, while the female has none). 
Early in April an old abode is occasionally utilized, but usually 
a new circular hole is hewn in a trunk or branch of some tree 
whose wood is not necessarily decayed; the excavation running 
horizontally till the heart is reached, and then turning downwards 
for a short distance, when it is enlarged to form a_ suitable 
receptacle for the 5-7 pure glossy white eggs, slightly pyriform 
in shape: measurements 1°3 by ‘88 in. The discarded chips of 
wood are rarely removed from below, and often serve to indicate 
the position of the nest. The note most frequently heard is the 
loud laughing pleu, pleu, pleu, popularly supposed to foretell rain, 
for which reason “ Rainbird” is a common name in some parts, as 
well as “ Yaffle” and “ Woodwale.” In search of timber-haunting 
beetles, -spiders and other insects, this Woodpecker may be seen 
climbing obliquely up some trunk or branch with short jerking 
movements, assisted by the stiff-pointed feathers of the tail, until, 
on arriving at the top, it passes with dipping flight to some other 
tree ; it also feeds to a great extent on ants in summer, and on 
other ground-insects during the great part of the year, while it has 
been said to eat nuts and acorns. 
The upper plumage of the male is chiefly olive-green, shading 
into yellow “th the rump; under parts pale greyish-green ; crown 
and nape crimson ; lereg black ; on each lower cheek an elongated 
patch of crimson edged with black. Length 12°5 in. ; wing 6:4 in. 
The female has less crimson on the head, and the cheek-patches 
are black. In the young the under parts are barred. The nestling 
is mottled on the back, and profusely spotted with arrow-headed 
markings on the under parts. 
