Il6 THE SPECIES. 



Pica. Plate ix. CORVINM (Passeridas). 



126. rusHca, 18 in. Magpie. Head and back greenish black ; rump 



greyish white ; tail greenish and large ; scapulars 

 white ; lower breast white ; first primary smuated. 

 The Magpie — Dimensions, Oc ; Eggs, Ij — is distinguishable by its long iridescent green 

 tail aloncj which it invariably raises as it alights. Its flight is graceful and easy, but some- 

 what slow. Its cry is a noisy chatter. The female is the smaller bird and is not so iridescent 

 in the plumage. The nest is nearly a sphere, built generally of blackthorn twigs cemented 

 with mud, and lined with rootlets and grass, the entrance to which is a circular hole. There 

 are from six to nine eggs. 



Picus. Plate xi. PICIDyE. 



145. minor, $^ in. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckek. Crown red ; 



back white and black ; under tail coverts with no 

 red in them. 



147. pubescenSf 6^ in. DoWNY V/oodpecker. Crown black ; nape red ; 



back black, with a white central stripe ; legs blue. 



146, villosus, 8f in. Hairy Woodpecker. Crown black ; back black 



with a white central stripe ; no red on under tail 

 coverts ; legs brown, 

 144. major, 9^ in. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Crown black ; 



back black ; under tail coverts red. 



148. martius, 18 in, GREAT Black WOODPECKER. Crown red ; back 



black. 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker — Dimensions, Dc ; Eggs, Ck — is the commonest Wood- 

 pecker in the Thames Valley. Like all the Woodpeckers it has a peculiar nick in its tail 

 feathers. It is a restless bird, with a short flight from tree to tree as it picks and taps up one. 

 sometimes head downwards, and then flies off to the next. The note is "keek." The female 

 has no red about her head. The nest is in a hole so small that a larger bird cannot enter, 

 and which is often a foot deep, and contains only a few chips and the eggs, which number 

 from five to nine. 



The Downy Woodpecker — Dimensions, Er ; Eggs, Ft — is a straggler from North America 

 that once had a representative shot in Dorsetshire. 



The Hairy Woodpecker — Dimensions, Hn ; Eggs, Fs — has only appeared twice in this 

 country. 



The Great Spotted Woodpecker — Dimensions, li ; Eggs, Fr — is a resident, whose numbers 

 are swollen by migration. It works up a tree in spirals, picks and taps at it rapidly, and 

 then flies off to begin at another in the same way. Its call is a " chick, chink." The female 

 has no red on her head, but the young of both sexes are red in the crown for a time. The 

 nest is in a hole in a tree. There are from five to eight eggs. 



The Great Black Woodpecker — Dimensions, Ok ; Eggs, Ie— seems to have been inserted 

 in the List out of respect for tradition. 



Platalea. Plate xviii. PLA TALEID^. 



214. leucorodia, 34 in. Spoonbill. Pale yellow crest ; plumage white, 



tinted with yellow and pale orange ; 30 remiges ; 



second primary longest. 



The Spoonbill — Dimensions, Sp ; Eggs, Qb— was at onetime a resident, but is now only an 



occasional summer visitor. Its flight is slow and regular, with the wings spread to their 



utmost. As a call it clicks its bill. Its nest is on a grassy tussock, or in a tree, and consists 



of a few sticks and dead leaves, with a lining of grass. It contains four or five eggs. 



Plectrophanes. Plate viii. EMBERIZINM (Passeridae). 



118. nivalis, 7 in. SNOW BUNTING. Black, brown, and white above ; 



whitish below ; four central tail feathers black, 



two nearly black ; the others white tipped with 



black. 



The Snow Bunting — Dimensions, Fm ; Eggs, Fc — is often called the Snowflake. It runs 



like a lark and flies like a butterfly, and crows and sings on the wing. The call is ** tsee." 



The female is brown where the male is black. In winter the black in both sexes is brownish. 



The nest has been found in the Scottish Highlands, and it has been found in Grinnell Land, 



in lat. 82° 83' at Midsummer. It. is generally placed among stones, and consists of dry 



grass, moss, rootlets, and twigs, lined with hair, down, or feathers, and containing from four 



to eight eggs. 



