GECINUS VIRIDIS.
Green Woodpecker, or Yaffle.

Picus viridis et P. semirostris, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. Delo

alba et P. viridis, Nozem. Nederl. Vog., tom. iv. p. 373, pl. 190.

Gecinus viridis, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 316.

——— frondium, G. pinetorum, et G. virescens, Brehm, Lehrb., p- 197.

Brachylophus viridis, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p- 308.

Chloropicus viridis, Malh. Nouv. Class. des Picinées, Mém. Acad. Metz, 1848-1849, p. 351.

 

 

I KNOW of ce one Oo a indigenous birds which gives a more tropical character to the scenery than
the Picus a with its strongly contrasted colours of green, yellow, and scarlet; how desirable it is,
then, that this fine bird should not be unnecessarily persecuted! When unmolested, it will not only
inhabit our woods and fields, but will very frequently resort to our shrubberies, and trimly mown lawns,
where its actions may be watched and studied from the window of the breakfast-room or the arbour in
the garden; here it may be seen awkwardly leaping sideways over the grass, prying for ants and other
insects, which it secures by darting forth and retracting its long tongue with such amazing rapidity as
to excite the astonishment of the observer. On leaving the grass-plat for the trees, it flies in a series of
undulations, showing its bright yellow rump and scarlet crown to the utmost advantage. The terrestrial
habits of the Green Woodpecker are quite in unison with its structure, which, particularly in the more
feeble character of its legs and the less wedge-shaped form of its bill, differs from that of the Spotted Wood-
peckers and the other members of the restricted genus Picus; it is also far less arboreal than they,
mostly confining itself to fallen and decayed trees, pollard willows, and old wood fences. The ant-hill has
far more attractions for it than the most beautiful tree; it is also said to be destructive to bees, and not to
reject the fruits of the garden. Its loud, wild, laughing cry resounds through the woods, and may be heard
far over the mead: this cry 1s so peculiar that, once heard, it can never be forgotten. In the spring the
Green Woodpecker becomes very garrulous and noisy, and thus often betrays the site of its breeding-place,
in a hole of some upright stately tree, to which it returns again and again for many years, unless it be
displaced by the Starling, against which bird it is ever on the watch. The Duke of Argyll informs me that
he bas seen the Green Woodpecker sit motionless for hours together, at the entrance of

being occupied by a pair of Starlings which frequented the neighbourhood.
for it remains with us all the year, and

in Cliveden woods

its hole, to prevent its
In England the Green Woodpecker is strictly an indigenous bird ;

breeds in nearly every county. Mr. Rodd states that it is very common in the eastern woodlands of Cornwall,

but that it is rare in the western, and almost unknown in the neighbourhood of Penzance. Macgillivray

yart of the northern or middle divisions of Scotland; and if it exist

states that it ‘does not occur in any | a
in the southern, it must be extremely rare.” In Ireland it is unknown. M. Malherbe states that it inhabits

the whole of the European continent, Persia, and Asia Minor. sigs

«The Green Woodpecker,” says Mr. Yarrell, “is generally seen either climbing ones the bark of trees in
search of its insect food or passing, by a short, somewhat laboured, and undulating flight, from one tree to
another. When seen moving upon a tree, the bird is mostly ascending, in a direction more or less oblique,
and is believed to be incapable of descending, unless this action be performed backwards. On flying to a tree
‘t settles low down on the bole or body of the tree, but a few feet above the ground,
, and proceeds from thence upwards, alternately tapping to induce any

anch that it may be able to reach any insects lodged
but, the summit of the

to make a new search,

generally below the lowest large branch
pecking holes in a decayed br
take up any insect on the surface ;
t, but flies off to another tree, or to

insect to change its place,
within, or protruding its long extensible tongue to
tree once attained, the bird does not descend over the examined par
another part of the same tree, to recommence its search lower down, and ce ees Beak:
and its appendages are admirably adapted to the bird’s mode of Ife. A eat extens : a

ngation of the two posterior branches or cornua of the bone of the tongue, which,
3 ad and over the top, have the ends of both inserted together mto the
are each accompanied throughout their
, and the tongue pushed

‘< The tongue

obtained by the elo
extending round the back of the he
cavity of the right nostril. These elongations, forming a bow, re |
length by a slender slip of muscle, by the contraction of which the be ae ‘ Cee
forward ; another pair of muscles, folded twice round the upper part 0 the Ee S ; a oe ae
forward, are attached to the anterior part of the tongue, and by their contraction g g

ee cath at 0 wi : ve bristle-like
again. The tongue itself is furnished at the up with a horny point, and also with four or five bri 1

: ‘ ind 4 xternal
hairs on each side, which are directed backwards. At each side of the head, behind and below the e

 

 

 

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