270 Mr. W. H. Simpson's Narrative 



pie of that species came under our notice. The woodman, how- 

 ever, told me, that he knew of two or three kinds of the Hack- 

 spett ; but unquestionably Picus major is the most numerous here. 

 Two inhabited nests were discovered ; in one of these the cries 

 of the young were plainly heard, so that we were spared the 

 trouble of cutting it open. 



Suddenly the attention of the party was arrested by the un- 

 mistakeable cry of a Spilkraka. We continued to pursue the 

 direction of the welcome sound until we arrived at a part of the 

 forest not very far from the reported Crane marsh, containing 

 several tall poplars mixed with pine and fir. Here both the birds 

 were seen ; but as there were several old holes, though none of 

 this year's making, we scattered about in different directions, 

 and then stopped to watch. After waiting for about an hour, 

 one of the birds, which had evidently slipped in unobserved 

 since our first sighting them, was seen to come out of a hole by 

 myself, and two others, all from different points. We sprang 

 up simultaneously, the alarm was given, and in a very short 

 time the entire party was standing under the tree — a straight 

 poplar not far short of 100 feet in height, and destitute of 

 anything that could be fairly called a branch, its upper parts 

 being in a broken and decayed condition. There were two old 

 holes of the Spilkraka, both below the inhabited one, which was 

 about 35 feet from the ground, and not of this year's making. 

 As the bole of the tree was perfectly smooth and very thick, 

 thci'e appeared no reasonable chance of climbing up, so as to use 

 the axe with any effect. Indeed the woodman shook his head 

 at the very idea ; and we knew that if he could not manage it, no 

 one else could. The overlooker was perfectly willing to allow 

 the tree to be felled, as black poplar here is of no value ; but 

 there was nothing against which it could be felled, and to bring 

 such a mass at once to the ground would have been utter de- 

 struction to everything in the nest. Nor was there any hope of 

 getting a rope attached to the upper branches, which were quite 

 untrustworthy. Altogether the prospect was very black indeed, 

 and there seemed every probability that the second nest of P. 

 martins would prove too difficult of access for us. A council of 

 war was held, when it was agreed that nothing could be done 



