The THREE-TOED WOODPECKER (_Apternus tridactylus_), as the most striking
of all the European members of this family is called, represents a group
recognisable by their straight beak, which is broader than it is high, and
equals the head in length. All the three toes are shorter than the tarsus;
of these the outermost is the smallest, and the two others of equal
length. In the wing the fourth quill is the longest. The centre feathers
of the conical tail are furnished with very stiff shafts, and sharply
pointed at their tip. The upper portions of the body are black, and the
under side dirty white; the brow black, spotted white, and the crown of
the head pale golden yellow. A white line, more or less marked with black,
passes from the eyes to the middle of the back; the bridles and a second
line that terminates at the throat are black; as are the markings on the
sides of the belly. The quills and exterior tail-feathers are black,
striped with white, and the centre tail-feathers entirely black. The eye
is pearl-grey or silver-white, the beak light grey, tipped with black, and
the foot dark grey. The female has the crown of the head spotted with
white, instead of being yellow as in the male. The length of this species
is nine and its breadth fourteen inches; the wing measures four inches and
three-quarters, and the tail three inches and three-quarters.
It is at present undecided whether all such of these birds as inhabit
Europe are to be regarded as identical; but if it be so the habitat of
this species extends over a large portion of both the European and Asiatic
continents. In the northern parts of Europe it is met with in the course
of its wanderings as far north as sixty degrees north latitude, and is
by no means rare; in Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia it is especially
numerous, and in the country about the mouth of the Amoor is one of the
commonest of birds. North America also possesses a deceptively similar or
identical species. Everywhere it frequents well-wooded mountain regions,
and closely resembles the Common Variegated Woodpecker in all the various
particulars of its habits, movements, and means of subsistence. It is
active and restless in its habits, and generally occupies the topmost
branches of the trees. Its cry is loud and shrill, somewhat resembling
that of some small quadruped when in great pain. Towards noon it is
silent, and retires to rest in a quiet spot. Its rapid, gliding, and
undulating flight is always accompanied by a succession of loud notes.
The nest is usually from twenty to twenty-four inches deep, and is bored
in the trunk of a sound tree. One brood of four to six pure white eggs is
laid in the season.
* * * * *
The GREEN WOODPECKERS (_Gecinus_) are readily known by the large size of
their elongate body, their slightly conical and curved beak, and short
powerful foot, furnished with four toes. The wing, in which the fourth and
fifth quills are the longest, is rounded at its extremity, the tongue is
of unusual length, and the plumage principally green, of a pale shade on
the under side, and marked with undulating lines; the head is occasionally
adorned with a brightly-coloured crest.