WOODPECKERS 157 



peckers feeding and climbing restlessly about the rotted 

 bark of these willows, now shorn of leaves — a living gem 

 against the silvery background. 



Year after year, after the autumn equinox, you ma}- see 

 these birds thereabouts, but after the March equinox they 

 are gone ; they do not stay to breed, but seem to migrate 

 elsewhere to rear their young. 



And this is all I have seen of the lesser spotted wood- 

 pecker in the Broadlands. 



The Greater Spotted Woodpecker. 



The greater spotted woodpecker I have never seen in the 

 district, but an old keeper told me he has shot them, and 

 they used to frequent a planting near the water. He said 

 he had a whistle similar to the green woodpecker, and 

 when he pecked at a dead branch, he made a peculiar 

 vibrating noise when pecking. He used to decoy them into 

 the open by placing sheaves of reed on the top of a bramble 

 bush, and when they came to them he would shoot them; 

 he avers he has shot several by this plan. 



