of the discovery of some Nests of the Black Woodpecker. 265 



Woodpeckers. Picus viridis is not to be found in such a locality : 

 the old oaks in the open parts are more suited to his taste, 

 where he may be seen in company with the Roller and the 

 Hoopoe, the Jackdaw and Starling, the Creeper and Nuthatch. 

 But for P. martins and P. major, such a place as I have attempted 

 to describe is admirably adapted, both on account of the abun- 

 dance of soft and decaying timber, and likewise because there is 

 little fear of molestation from mankind, in most countries the 

 worst enemies of birds. No other of the five remaining Scan- 

 dinavian Woodpeckers fell under my observation in the South 

 of Sweden, though in a country so well suited for the Picidce it 

 is to be expected that most of them occur, with the exception, 

 perhaps, of P. tridactylus, which is a more northern species. 



Towards the latter end of May, 1856, I happened to be stay- 

 ing with a Dane, the overlooker of a large forest belonging to 



Count L , having been introduced to him by my companion, 



who was likewise a Dane. When he heard that I had come all 

 the way from England to find the "Bo" of the Spilkraka* (P. 

 martius), he sent for his chief woodman to inquire what chance 

 there was of getting one. The woodman said that he had fre- 

 quently seen birds throughout the spring, and had in former 

 years even noticed their " Bo,^' but that it was generally so high 

 that nobody could get at it ; that this year a pair of birds were 

 known to frequent the edge of a clearing about four miles di- 

 stant, and that if we would accompany him early next morning 

 we might possibly discover the object of our search. This was 

 cheering intelligence, and caused us to make an early start. 

 Our way lay chiefly through a monotonous wood of spruce firs, 

 very uninteresting in appearance, and apparently destitute of 

 any species of bird, so much so that my heart misgave me as to 

 the success of our undertaking. But on crossing the clearing 

 (a square of about 1000 yards), a Spilkraka was seen to slip 

 quietly away from the upper part of a tall spruce to which he 



* I am informed by Mr. Alfred Newton that ' Spil-kraka ' means Spill- 

 or Chip-Crow. ' Spill ' is now hardly used in English except for a 

 piece of paper or other substance employed for lighting candles. Mr. 

 Newton doubts whether ' spill ' is any longer in use in Swedish as a sub- 

 stantive, but states that the verb ' spillrn,' to splinter, is of common 

 occurrence.' — Ed. 



