BRITISH BIRDS. 79 



in Scotland, and in Ireland. All tliree are resi- 

 dent. 



The food consists principally of insects found in the 

 crevices of the bark on decayed or decaying trees ; 

 also nuts, acorns, and occasionally fruit and seed. The 

 green woodpecker also feeds largely on ants and their 

 " eggs/' (pupae). 



Tlie woodpeckers are shy, restless birds, frequenting 

 groves and wooded districts, where they may be seen 

 flying from tree to tree, examining the bark or tapping the 

 decayed branches in search of their insect food. They nest 

 in holes, which they excavate in soft-wooded trees, and 

 deposit pure white, very glossy eggs, which are slightly 

 pyriform in shape. 



There is no more trustworthy herald of spring than the 

 green woodpecker or yaffle ; as soon as his laughing note is 

 heard, one ma}'" be sure that the sap is rightly astir, and 

 that presently the gtove will be dim with new greenery. 

 The jay, harshly garrulous at other times, falls cunningly 

 silent in the nesting season ; but the yaffle cannot hold his 

 tongue in the honeymoon. 



Admirable as is the tongue of the green woodpecker, as 

 an example of consummate adaptation of structure to 

 requirements, it is by no means the only organ which has 

 been modified to suit this bird's peculiar mode of getting its 

 livelihood. The foot is zygodactylic, that is, arranged with 

 two toes before and two behind, to enable it to climb the 

 better. The breast bone, too, has been pared away in a re- 

 markable manner, so as to clear the tree trunk in ascending, 

 for the yaffle never climbs down. The resulting shallow- 

 ness of the pectoral muscles renders the breast almost devoid 

 of flesh, so that even in France nobody has yet concocted a 

 dish of Piverts. 



The female of Dendrocopiis major and minor is started in 



