WOODPECKER. 339 



irides pale yellow ; the whole bird is black, except the crown of the 

 head, which is the colour of vermilion ; the first quill feather is the 

 shortest; the two middle tail feathers are longer than the others, 

 making it a little rounded ; legs lead-colour, covered with feathers 

 on the fore part, for half their length. 



The female differs, in having the hindhead only red, and the 

 general colour of the plumage tinged with brown : in some, the red 

 of the hindhead has been wholly wanting ; and, indeed, both sexes 

 are apt to vary, some having a much greater proportion of red on 

 the head than others. 



This bird is found on the Continent of Europe ; not known in 

 Italy, and rare in France, but more plentiful in Germany. Frisch 

 mentions it as a bird common to his parts, and it is also found in 

 Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, but not in winter ; is very 

 common in Russia, frequenting the woods, from St. Petersburgh to 

 Ochotsk, on the Eastern ocean, and to Lapmark, on the West; 

 is not an inhabitant of Kamtschatka, but not uncommon in the 

 neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea. It is so very destructive to bees, 

 that the Baschirians, in the vicinity of the River Ufa, as well as the 

 inhabitants of other parts, who form holes in the trees, 25 or 30 feet 

 from the ground, wherein the bees may deposit their store, take every 

 precaution to hinder the access of this bird, and in particular to 

 guard the mouth of the hive with sharp thorns; notwithstanding 

 which, the Woodpecker finds means to prove a most formidable 

 enemy, and it is observed to be in most plenty where the bees are in 

 the greatest numbers.* 



They are said to build in old ash and poplar trees, making large 

 and deep nests, and often so excavate a tree, that is is shortly after 

 blown down with the wind ; and that under the hole of this bird 



* At Dschiggertau, on the Ural Mountains, there is a bee hive almost on every one of 

 the tallest pine trees, and in these parts the Black Woodpecker abounds exceedingly, being 

 attracted, no doubt, by the inhabitants of the hives. — Dec, russ. iv. p. 9. 



f GmeL Reise. iv. p. 141. 



X x 2 



