CHAPTEE LXXIV. 



The Green Woodpecker. 



Picus viridis, Lin. ; Le Pic vert, Buf. 



Desceiption and Character. — The Green Woodpecker is a 

 strikingly handsome bird, and one of the most beautiful of the 

 gorgeously plumaged varieties that we can lay claim to ; but, 

 unfortunately, this is the greatest recommendation which it 

 possesses, for it is sullen and capricious in confinement, of a 

 most unsocial disposition, and can never be completely recon- 

 ciled to a cage or aviary. 



The Green Woodpecker is 12iin. in length, when fully 

 matured, the tail being 4iin. ; the bill is 1 jin. long, triangular 

 in form, straight, sharp at the point, and of a dusky lead 

 colour ; the bird weighs 6|oz. when in good condition ; the 

 irides are French white, with an inner circle of pale reddish 

 brown surrounding the pupil. On the top of the head, ex- 

 tending to the nape of the neck, is a beautiful lavender, or 

 silver grey, cap, elliptic in form, each feather being pointed 

 with crimson or bright red, which, to a casual observer, gives 

 it the appearance of a brilliant crimson headdress ; but on 

 closer examination, it will be found that the lavender colour 

 is distinctly visible, giving the head a dappled-like look, being 

 spotted or marked with that colour. The bird can, when so 

 inclined, and does when it is at all excited, raise the feathers 

 on the cranium like a Rosy Cockatoo, forming a sort of 

 bastard crest. 



From the root of the bill there runs an elongated, oblong, 

 velvety black eye marking on each side, which entirely 



