56 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
crest blackj each feather with an elongated white drop near the tip^ and in 
having a duller crimson tinge on the back. 
Iris hazel ; eyelids plumbeous ; bill very dark brown ; legs greenish ; 
claws horn-colour. 
Length 11 '5 inches^ tail 4*2^ wing 5*8^ tarsus 1^ bill from gape 1*5. The 
female is rather smaller. 
This species, like the preceding, varies much in dimensions, and there 
appears to be a perfect gradation in size from the south to the north. 
Tenasserim birds, according to Mr. Hume, have a wing varying from 5' 18 
to 5 '45 inches in length. Pegu and Arrakan birds, according to my 
own measurements, have the wing varying from 5 '6 to 6 "05 inches. I 
have not been able to examine many Northern-Indian birds ; but Mr. 
Hume remarks of a Kumaon example, with a wing of 6*25 inches, that it 
was a ^^huge specimen ; and we may therefore conclude that this length 
is about the maximum for the wings of Himalayan birds. Southern-Indian 
specimens are identical in size with those from Tenasserim. No distinc- 
tions, moreover, can be based on the coloration of examples from various 
localities, for the variations in plumage, such as they are, are not corre- 
lated with geographical limits ; and under these circumstances I do not 
think any good will result from attempting to keep the two so-called 
species T. shorii and T. javanensis distinct. 
The Common Three-toed Woodpecker is very abundant in all parts of 
British Burmah and Karennee. 
It is found in the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Cochin 
China and Siam. It does not appear to have yet been observed in the 
Indo-Burmese countries nor in the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal, but it is 
met with along the whole range of the Himalayas. It has been procured 
in Central India, and it appears to be abundant over a considerable portion 
of Southern India. 
This is the commonest species of Woodpecker in Burmah, being found 
in every description of jungle, both near houses and in the wildest forests. 
It has a very shrill call, and climbs trees in a peculiar jerky manner, fre- 
quently pausing for some minutes and remaining perfectly still. I found 
its nest in Pegu in May in a hole of a tree, with three eggs. Capt. 
Bingham found the nest in Tenasserim in March. 
