GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 151 



But, like the pearl in the shell of the oyster, the 

 eggs laid on this filthy structure are most beautiful. 

 They are five to eight in number, of a round shape, 

 and perfectly white, though before they are blown, 

 they have a beautiful pink tint, from the yolk inside. 

 Occasionally the nest is found without any fish bones, 

 and as the birds usually return to the same site year 

 after year, some ornithologists suggest that the foul 

 conglomeration which we have observed and described 

 above is the accumulation of previous years ; the holes 

 without any bones being new ones used for the first 

 time. 



BELTED KINGFISHER. 



CERYLE ALCYON. 



Family Alcedinid.b. Genus Ceryle. 



Has occurred at least twice; both the recorded 

 times in Ireland. 



GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 



PIOUS MAJOR. 



Family Picid^. Genus Picus. 



Pied Woodpecker — French Pie — Wood Pie — Great Black and 

 White Woodpecker. 



The Woodpeckers can scarcely be called common 

 birds amongst us. The Great Spotted Woodpecker 

 occurs in most English counties ; but in Scotland 

 and Ireland it is very rare. This bird is a bird of the 

 forests, and must be looked for in our old woods and 



