Note 83 — Chapter V · ToC

These facts are taken from Mr. J. Lewis Bonhote's British Birds. I may add that in many species where the sexes are alike the young are quite different from the parents, a fact which seems to have escaped the notice of those who say that the young birds resemble the female. A very curious instance is furnished by the greater spotted woodpecker, where the sexes are similar, but the female lacks the red crown of the male; and yet the young of both sexes have this red crown.