PICUS DANFOKDI. 



(TURKISH LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER.) 



Picus minor (nee Linn.), Danford, Ibis, 1877, p. 264. 

 Picus danfordi, Hargitt, Ibis, 1883, p. 172. 

 Bendrocopus danfordi, id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 256. 



Figura nulla. 



Ad. P. minori similis, sed regione parotica in parte posteriore nigro marginal corpore subtus magis fusco 

 lavato et liypochondriis magis nigro-fusco fasciatis. 



Adult Male (Gozna, Taurus, December 17th). Resembles P. minor, except that it has the branch from the 

 black malar stripe passiug quite round the posterior part of the ear-coverts and joined to the occiput, 

 and the underparts are somewhat darker and the flanks rather more distinctly barred. 



Adult Female (Kuban, January 10th). Differs from the male in having the crown buffy white and not red. 



The present species can at once be separated from tbe otber Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers 

 by tbe black stripe wbicb passes round tbe ear-coverts, as shown on my Plate, and is, so far 

 as we know at present, found in Asia Minor and in Northern Caucasus, and Mr. Hargitt says 

 (I. c.) that it extends into Turkey and Greece. I may, however, mention that I have one 

 specimen from Bujuk&re, in Turkey, and two from iEtolia, in Greece, all three of which are 

 referable to Picus minor and not to P. danfordi, although one, a male from iEtolia, is slightly 

 intermediate. 



Mr. Danford (Ibis, 1878, p. 7) says that he found P. danfordi " common on the Bulgar-dagh 

 among the deciduous woods and orchards. To the northward it is much rarer, doubtless from 

 the scarcity of suitable localities." 



I find nothing on record respecting the general habits or nidification of the present species, 

 but in these particulars it doubtless does not differ appreciably from P. minor. 



Mr. Hargitt includes (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 2-56) the Small Woodpecker described by 

 Dr. G. Kadde under the name of Picus minor, var. quadrifasciatus (Orn. Cauc. p. 315, pi. xix. 

 fig. 5), as a valid subspecies under the name Dendrocopus quadrifasciatus, and told me that he ' 

 could not do otherwise, as he had been unable to borrow a specimen for examination. Dr. Radde 

 describes it as differing from Picus minor in being smaller (the male measuring — total length 

 5 - 05 inches, culmen - 6, wing 3 - 25, tail 2T5, tarsus - 6), in having the underparts rather browner, 

 and in having only four bands of white on the wings, when closed, instead of five. He obtained 

 six specimens from near Lenkoran, and says that it is of rare occurrence in the Central Caucasus, 

 where he only met with it on a few occasions in the mixed forests of Borshom, but more frequent 

 in the forests of Talysch. Being desirous of settling this question, I wrote to my friend Dr. Radde, 



