GREEX WOODPECKER 167 



Breeding habits: The Green Woodpecker is a 

 resident in our islands, frequenting those districts where 

 timber is abundant, such as parks, old forest country, 

 woods, and fields in which plenty of trees occur. It may, 

 however, occasionally be met with in localities where trees 

 arescarce, doubtless tempted by some favourite food. In 

 South Devonshire it may be frequently seen on the sea- 

 cliffs, apparently rarely going inland to the trees and 

 woods. The Green Woodpecker pairs for life, although 

 it is one of those species that the sexes do not keep very 

 close company after the breeding season is over, being 

 generally met with solitary. Neither is it at all social 

 during the nesting period, each pair keeping to them- 

 selves. Sometimes the same nesting-place is used 

 season by season ; sometimes a new .one is prepared, 

 especially if the old abode has become water-logged, or 

 been taken possession of by some other species. The 

 Green Woodpecker nests in a hole in a tree, which the 

 parent birds excavate for themselves, usually leaving a 

 portion of the refuse of their work on the ground below. 

 I have, however, knowm this bird nest in a hole in a 

 cliff, between Paignton and Torquay — a large burrow, 

 almost like a fox-earth, a few yards from the summit, 

 but certainly not made by the Woodpeckers. The hole 

 is circular, and very neatly made, either in a branch or 

 in the trunk, where the wood is soft. In some cases the 

 birds will bore through a thin layer of sound timber to 

 reach the rotten portion. For a little distance the hole 

 is horizontal, then a perpendicular shaft is dug out 

 about a foot in depth, at the bottom of which it is 

 enlarged into a kind of chamber, in which the eggs are 

 deposited, on no other bed than is afforded by the dry 

 dust and few wood chips. The bird is a close sitter, 

 but makes little or no demonstration at the nest when 

 disturbed. 



