WHITWALL. 541 
na23e brown ; throat yellowish white ; bill and legs reddish. ‘‘ This 
species,” says Temminck, “ is found to inhabit the salt water lakes of 
the eastern parts of Europe ; and is very plentiful in Russia, upon the 
lakes and rivers of which country it constructs a nest of reeds or 
rushes, floating* upon the water ; in this nest the female lays eight eggs 
of a pale green.* 
WHITE WAGTAIL. — A name for the Winter Wagtail. 
WHITWALL (^Picus major, Linn^us.) 
Picus major, Lmn. Syst. 1. 'p. 176. 17. — Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 436. sp. 17. — Fauna 
Suec. No. 100. — Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 228. 13. — Picus varius major, Raii, 
Syn. p. 43. A. 4. — Will. p. 94. t. 21 Briss. 4. p. 34. 13 Le Pic Varie ou 
Pic Epeiche, Buff. Ois. 7. p. 57. — Ib. pi. Enl. 196. and 595. male and female. 
— Temm. Man. d’Orn. 1, p. 595. — Die Bunt-specht, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 2. 
p. 1022. — Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 121 Ib. Vbg. Deut. 1. t. male 
and female. — Frisch, t. 36. male. — Greater-spotted Woodpecker, Br. Zool. 1. 
No. 85. — Arct. Zool. 2. No. 162. — Will. (Angl.) p. 137. t. 21. — Lewin’sBr. 
Birds, t. 47. — Lath. Syn. 2. p. 564. 12. — Ib. Supp. p. 107. — Mont. Orn. Diet. 
— Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 6. — Don. Br. Birds, 2. t. 37. — Bewick’s Br. Birds, 1. t. 
118 — Flem. Br. Anim. p. 91. — Selby, pi. 38. fig. 2. p. 106.* 
The weight of this species is about two ounces and three-quarters ; 
length nine inches ; the bill is dusky, an inch and a quarter long ; irides 
reddish brown ; the forehead dirty white ; crown of the head black ; 
hind part of a deep crimson ; the cheeks are white, beneath which is a 
black line from the lower mandible to the back of the head, from the 
middle of which another line of the same colour runs down on each 
side, and almost meets at the upper part of the breast ; on each side the 
back of the neck is a white spot ; the back, rump, coverts of the tail, 
and lesser coverts of the wings are black ; the scapulars, and some of 
the greater coverts adjoining, are white ; the quill-feathers are black, 
marked with white spots on each web ; the throat and under parts are 
dirty white ; vent bright crimson ; the four middle feathers of the tail 
are black, the rest more or less white towards the point, marked with 
black spots ; legs lead-colour. The female differs only in having that 
part of the head black, which in the male is red. 
The Whitwall is less frequent in England than the poppinjay ; its 
habits and manners nearly the same, except that it rarely descends to 
the ground in search of food, and that it more frequently makes that 
jarring noise for which the woodpeckers are distinguished, than either 
of the other species, especially when disturbed from the nest, which we 
had an opportunity of observing. It was with difficulty the bird was 
made to quit her eggs ; for notwithstanding a chisel and mallet were 
used to enlarge the hole, she did not attempt to fly out till the hand was 
introduced, when she quitted the tree at another opening. The eggs were 
five in number, perfectly white and glossy, weighing about one dram, 
