GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. 



WSESSORES. PICIDM. 



SCANSORES. 



PLATE CXXXIII. 



GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. 



PlCUS MARTIUS. 



Of this singular and beautiful family, eight species are 

 enumerated by Temminck as belonging to Europe ; four 

 only of these are met with in England, of which the species 

 under present consideration is the most rare. 



The Great Black Woodpecker is an inhabitant of the 

 cold as well as the temperate parts of Europe, but does not 

 penetrate very far north, in consequence of the absence of 

 large trees beyond a certain latitude. Russia in Europe, 

 and Asia, Persia, France, some parts of Switzerland and 

 Germany are inhabited by this bird. It is also found in 

 North America, Chili, and Porto Rico. Although nowhere 

 plentiful, this bird is scattered over the wooded parts of 

 Northern Europe, it is more rare in the central parts, and in 

 the most southern countries is nearly unknown. 



The favourite haunts of the Black Woodpecker are the 

 extensive forests of pine that cover so much of Northern 

 Europe and Asia. These lonely and obscure forests abound 

 in old and decayed trees, which supply them with food, and 

 serve the purpose of their breeding retreats. When met 

 with in forests of mixed timber, such as oaks, beech, &c, or 

 in young plantations, these birds may be considered as merely 

 no their journey from one spot to another. 



VOL. III. Q 



