360 BRITISH BIRDS. 



climatic races occur. North-European and Siberian examples are tlie 

 largestj and the latter have been separated under the name of Picus pipra, 

 in consequence of their being so much whiter, the whole of the underparts 

 (with the exception of the under tail-coverts, which are streaked with black) 

 being unspotted silky white, and the black transverse bars on the lower back 

 and rump being nearly obsolete. Examples from Asia Minor represent the 

 other extreme form, in which the black is greatly developed and extends 

 round the ear-coverts as in Picus major, and in which the underparts are 

 very brown. To this variety the name of P. danfordi has been given ; but 

 none of these forms can be considered specific, as intermediate forms 

 between the Arctic and semitropical forms occur in intermediate climates. 

 The Scandinavian form is intermediate between that from Siberia and the 

 West-European form ; whilst the latter appears to be connected with the 

 Asia-Minor form by an intermediate form in Algeria, which has been 

 called P. ledouci. 



The habits of all the Woodpeckers are very similar, and those of the 

 present species do not differ much from those of its larger congener, the 

 Great Spotted Woodpecker. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker frequents 

 large woods, old forests, plantations, fields in which the hedgerows are well 

 studded with trees, parks, large gardens, and orchards. In winter its 

 haunts are a little more varied than during the breeding-season ; for then 

 it wanders about in search of food, and visits many localities, where it only 

 stays for a brief period. It does not appear to frequent conifer-woods 

 much in this country, but is often found in those large fir-woods that are 

 intermixed with non-evergreen trees. It often haunts trees quite close 

 to houses, and being of small size and shy and retiring habits it is fre- 

 quently overlooked. You may pass through woods and other districts 

 where this little bird is far from uncommon without ever getting a glimpse 

 of it, the only sign of its presence often being its note or the whirring 

 sound it produces on the trees. 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is said to show a preference for the tops 

 of tall trees ; and as its labours are often carried on at such a height, it is 

 a very easy matter to pass it unnoticed. It is a restless little bird, putting 

 you in mind of a Tit or a Creeper, flying from tree-top to tree-top, pausing 

 here and there to search the trunks and branches for food. As it flies 

 along, in an undulatory way, the white bars on the wings show out very 

 plainly. Sometimes it alights on the small branches and perches hori- 

 zontally ; but more frequently it settles on the trunk or a broad limb. 

 Its manner of searching for food is very similar to that of the other 

 Woodpeckers. It creeps nimbly from side to side, now running com- 

 pletely round the tnmk, advances a little way, then pauses a moment, 

 then runs on again. It is as much at home head downwards as the reverse, 

 and will run along the underside of a broad limb with surprising quickness 



