138 



Pictures of Bird Life 



mandible of tlie beak. The length of a specinien wliich 

 I have had m spirits for twenty years is 8 inches, including 

 the tendinous processes, the tongue proper being 4| inches. 



The length of the whole 

 bird from beak to tail is 

 only 1'2 5 inches. 



All tliree AVood- 

 peckers are fairly com- 

 mon round London, the 

 Lesser Spotted being on 

 tlie whole the most 

 abundant. The curious 

 drumming noise made 

 by Woodpeckers in 

 spring-time may be 

 often heard, as they sit 

 on a dead bough and 

 hammer it witli tlieir 

 beak with inconceivable 

 rapidity. The effect is 

 a curious drumming, 

 vibratory noise, which may be heard for a long distance, 

 and is very difficult to localise. I once followed the sound 

 for a long way, tliinking at every step the bird was in the 

 next tree, and tlien the next. At last it flew out quite 

 fifty yards from wliere I had thought it to be. It is sup- 

 posed to be a call-note between the sexes before pairing, 

 and is only heard in spring-time. 



Barn Owl {Sliyx Jlamnica). 



