4 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
viz., the Woodpeckers {Picinie), the Piculets {Fkumnitta) and 
the Wrynecks {lynginai). The second of these Sub-families has 
a soft and rounded tail, without spiny shafts. It consists of 
about forty species of very small size, mostly found in Central 
and South America, but also represented in Africa, as well as in 
tlie Himalayan and kindred ranges of mountains in Asia. 
Both the Woodpeckers and Wrynecks are represented in 
Great Britain, the former by three species, the latter by a single 
one. 
THE TRUE WOODPECKERS. SUB-FAMILY 
PICIN/E. 
Some forty-five genera are comprised in this Sub-family, of 
which two are natives of Great Britain. Besides the three 
species which are residents, there are several which have been 
chronicled as having wandered to the British Isles. The Great 
Black Woodpecker (/!!■«« martius)\\:& been recorded over and 
over again, but a careful enquiry into all the records by Mr. 
J. H. Gurney, has thrown doubt on every one of the occur- 
rences, and it is indeed a very unlikely bird to wander from its 
Scandinavian home. The only specimen examined by me in 
the flesh, in this country, had its crop filled with insects, which 
I sent for examination to the late Professor Westwood of 
Oxford, and they were pronounced by him not to be British, 
but Swedish, species ! I’he Great Black Woodpecker measures 
seventeen inches in length, is entirely black above and below, 
the male having a red crown, while in the female the red colour 
is confined to the occiput. 
The While-backed Woodpecker [Dendrocopus leuconntus) is 
said to have occurred in the Shetland Islands. The specimen 
believed to be of this species was figured by the late Mr. 
Gould in his “ Birds of Great Britain,” and it appeared to me 
at the time to be a young D. lettconohis. Recent observers, 
1-iOwever, have come lo the conclusion that the bird was only 
a young of the Spotted Woodpecker. D. kttconoins may be 
distinguished, when adult, by its pure white rump, contrasting 
with the black of the upper back ; the male has the head and 
occiput red, and the female has these parts black. The total 
length is about ten inches, and the wing a little over five and 
a half inches. Its native home is Northern and Central 
