and white : from the lower jaw fprings a crimfon band, like sp
whifker : back, wings,, and tail, brown black, without fp o tsb u b
the ends of the laft are juft tipped with white; belly ftriatedi
black and white : legs black.
This defcribedfrom a fpecimen in the Britijh- Mujetm. '
i- g r e a t e r -
SHOTTEDW.
Picas majpr, Lin. Syft. i. p. 17-6. IS0' 17.—Muller, p. iz i— Scep. a s Jr-
p. 47.. N° 53,— Kram; p. 335, N” 3.
Le grand Pic varie, Sri/, cm. iv. p. 34. N° 13*
L’Epeiche, ou le P-ic varié, Bu/, oif. vii. p. 37.
____________ :--------- PI. enl. 196. the male, 5.93, the-female.-
Bunt Specht, b'rijch. t. 36.
Bicusvarius major, Raii Syn. p. 43. A. 4.
Greater, fpotted Woodpecker, or Witwall, Will. cm. 137. pj. zii-
Great ipotted D°, Sr. Zool. N° 85.—Amer. Zaal. Ns
Br. Muf. Lev. Muf
D escription. ^T^HIS fpecies is about the fize of a Blackbird : in length nine-
.-*■ inches and a quarter : weight two ounces and three quarters, ■
The bill is thirteen- lines long,, blackifh, with the bafe horn-
coloured the hides- are reddifh: general colour of the body"
black above : the forehead is of a dirty buff-colour : on the hind
head is a bar of crimfon: cheeks white: on each fide of the
neck, at the hind part, is-a fpot of white: the fcapularsand wing;
coverts neareft to them are white, and the quills, fpotted with
white alfo: the throat and bread: are of a yellowifh grey : the
lower part of the belly and vent crimfon: tail blacks the four'
middle feathers plains the others more or lefs marked with1
whites, the outmoft feather has two black fpots on each fide of
the
die Web s the next has two on the inner, and one only on the
outer web : legs lead-colour,
Tht female differs only in wanting the red on the hind head. F emale,
This bird is pretty common in England, France, Germany, and Places an»
other parts of Europe', frequenting the woods like the reft of its Manners.
genus,, and is likewife met with in America. It is a very cunning
bird s for when a perfon has feen one on a tree, he is almoft fure
to lofe fight o f it, if the tree is large, and the obferver not very
attentive ; for the moment it fpies any one, it will creep behind a
branch, and there lay fecure till the danger is over. The extreme“
facility with which birds of the Woodpecker kind defcend as well
as afcend the trees, is- worthy admiration, feeming to do both
with equal eafe to itfelf. I do not find any one who has noticed-
the colour of die eggs *, but Buffon f mentions having found a*
neft with fix young ones- in an old decayed afp-tree,,thirty feet
from the ground.
Ficus médius; Line Syß. i , p . 176. N° 18.— Seep. i. pi 48. N° 54.—Mull'.
P- I2‘ +- MIDDLE
Le Pic v in e, B r if urn. iv. p. 38. N" 14. pi. 2. f. 1, . SPOTTEDPic
varié à tête.rouge, PI. enl. 6 u . W.-
Middle fpotted Woodpecker, Br. Zoo!. N°86. pi. 37;.
^ p H I S is fom ew h a t le fs th an th e la ft , b e in g in le n g th o n ly e ig h t D escription-,
in ch e s and a h a l f ; b u t in g en e ra l m a rk in g s - i t is m u ch th e
fam e , e fp e c ia lly o n , th e b a c k - a n d w in g s . I t d iffe rs c h ie fly in
h a v in g th e w h o le to p o f th e h e ad c r im fon , and rou n d th e eyes-
* Willughbp obferves, .that the eggs o f all Woodpeckers are white, as far as has -
come to his knowledge.
+ Miß, des o if vii. p. 61.
and'