History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

92 BIRDS. SCANSORES. Yunx.Middle-spotted Woodpecker of British writers.—The jarring noise made by thewoodpeckers, especially during the breeding season, is produced by repeatedstrokes of the bill on the dead branch of a tree.124. P. minor. Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. — Upper partof the back and rump black ; the middle and scapulars whiteand black; beneath greyish white.Will Orn. 94. Sibb. Scot. 15. Linn. Syst.i. 176. Perm. Brit. Zool. i.245. Temm, Orn. i. 399.— E, Hickwall, Crank-bird; W, Delor fraithbeiaf.— Frequents the south and west of England.Length 6, breadth 12 inches ;weight not an ounce. Bill and legs grey ;irides red. Front grey, crown red, nape and stripe over the eye black. Thecheeks and sides of the neck white. From the gape a stripe of black descendsto the shoulders. Quills and tail-feathers black, with white spots.Female destitute of the red on the crown, its place supplied with white Nestin trees.Eggs 5, purplish-white—Sibbald records this species, probably bymistake, as Scottish.STBAGGLERS.1. P. martins. Great Black Woodpecker.— In this species, which is 18 incheslong, and 29 broad, and upwards of 10 ounces in weight, the plumage isblack, with the exception of the crown, which is of a bright red. Quills 19 ;tail-feathers 10. This bird was unknown to Willoughby as a British species.Dr Pulteney, in his Catalogue of the Birds of Dorsetshire, says, " Shot inthe nursery garden at Blandford ;also at Whitchurch, and other places inDorsetshire," p. 6. Montagu, in his Supplement to the Orn. Diet., adds," Lord Stanley assures us, that he shot a Picus martius in Lancashire ;andwe have heard that another was shot in the winter of 1805, on the trunk ofan old willow tree in Battersea Fields." There is no evidence, however, ofits breeding here, or even performing annual visits.2. P. villosus.Hairy Woodpecker—In this species, which is nearly 9 incheslong, and about 2 ounces in weight, the plumage, above, is black, witha white stripe of hair-like feathers down the middle of the back, The napehas a red band, and there are two white stripes on each side of the head.This bird is a native of North America. " Dr Latham mentions havingseen a pair in the collection of the Dutchess of Portland, which were shotnear Halifax in Yorkshire."— Montagu.Gen. LVII. YUNX. Wryneck.— Bill conical, depressed;nostrils naked.The first quill nearly equal to the second.Tail-feathers 10, soft and flexible.125. Y. torquilla.Common Wryneck.— Plumage, above,yellowish-grey, mottled with brown specks and arrow-shapedblack bands, with a black mesial stripe.Will. Orn. 95. Linn. Syst.i. 172. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 237. Temm.Orn. i. 403— E, Long-tongue, Emmet Hunter; W, Gwas y gog,Gwddfro—A regular summer visitant.Length 74, breadth 11 inches; weight an ounce. Bill and legs yellowishbrown.Irides hazel. Chin and throat yellowish-white. On each side ofthe breast a patch of wood-brown. Breast and belly white, with arrowshapedblack spots. Quills 19. Tail long, rounded. Female like the maleNest in the hole of a tree.Eggswhite.— 10, This bird arrives a few daysprevious to the cuckoo. It is frequent in the southern and eastern counties2