trees, but is not found in conifer woods. It is the least noisy and most phlegmatic of our Woodpeckers, quieter 
in its movements ; and its note is softer than that of the others. It will remain sometimes for hours on the same 
tree, climbing about quietly, and searching silently for insects. Although its beak is stronger than those of the 
other Spotted W^'oodpeckers, it does not make so much noise in tapping on the trees ; for it works quietly, and 
generally on very rotten ones, where it only shells off the bark. In winter it is often found in gardens and 
in the villages, where it will sometimes spend whole days, only visiting a few trees or hedges ; it stands in 
far less fear of man than its congeners. During the breeding-season it makes the noise which is common 
to all our Woodpeckers by tapping rapidly on a dry branch ; but it is not so loud as that of the others, and 
cannot be heard at any distance. It feeds exclusively on insects. In nidification it generally precedes the 
Great Black W^oodpeckers {Dryocopus martins) by a few days, laying as early as the beginning of April ; 
and by the middle of May the young quit the nest. It makes its nest-hole in very rotten trees, especially 
in birches, ash trees, elms, and, but rarely, in oaks, most generally in the trunk of the tree, about two or 
three fathoms from the ground. It generally chooses trees so rotten that they are only held together by the 
bark. It once happened to me that on slightly shaking an old trunk which contained young of this bird, 
and vvhich had been used for the purpose of nidification for the two or three preceding years, it broke, and 
literally fell in pieces. The nest of this W^oodpecker can easily be recognized by the shape of the exterior 
opening, which is perfectly circular all along the horizontal jvassage ; whereas those of the other species are 
elliptical at the beginning, and, after that, circular to a certain distance from the bottom. The interior is 
far more spacious than in those of P. major, and even sometimes exceeds that of the Green Woodpecker. 
The debris of wood thrown out at the foot of the tree is larger than is the case vvath the other species ; 
and this also serv^es to point out its nest. Two or three eggs are generally deposited ; I only know of one 
instance when four were laid; and it is therefore easy to see how this species is less numerous than the 
others. The eggs are exactly like those of P. major, and also vary v^ery much in form, some being much 
elongated, and others very short.” 
The middle figure in my Plate is a faithful portraiture of tlie young specimen killed in Shetland abov e 
mentioned, and now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., of which the following very careful 
description is given by Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser in their account of the P. major ; — 
“Young male shot at Halligarth, Shetland, in September 1861, by Dr. Saxby. Forehead bulF; crown of 
the head crimson, bordered with greyish black above each eye ; nape clear grey ; orbital region and ear- 
coverts, as well as the sides of the neck, dull white ; malar streak greyish black, extending right down the 
sides of the neck, and joined to the crown by a narrow line of black just behind the ear-coverts; back 
blackish, becoming more grey on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; scapulars white, irregularly barred vvith 
greyish black ; wing-cov'crts clear grey, the centres of the feathers blackish, the shafts being especially 
plainly marked, the innermost greater coverts white, much v^aried with black, especially at the base of the 
feathers ; quills blackish, becoming browner towards the tip of the feather, the white markings on the outer 
web forming three distinct white bars across the vvdng, but more irregular on the primaries, where no 
distinct bands are to be seen, the extremities of the primaries tipped with white ; tail blackish, the three 
outermost feathers white towards the tip, this colour being least developed on the third rectrix, more on the 
second, and on the outermost occupying more than the apical half of the feather, all these white portions 
irregularly crossed with blackish bars ; under surface of the body dirty white, with very distinct streaks of 
black down the sides of the body; vent pale v^ermilion ; the pectoral half-collar of black very feebly developed; 
under wing-coverts almost white, some of the longer ones barred with blackish. Total length 9‘7 inches, 
culmen T05, wing 5‘6, tail 3*9, tarsus 0*95.” 
The Plate represents, besides Mr. Gurney’s bird, an adult male and a female from Scandinavian specimens, 
all of the natural size. 
