290 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



once remarked tlie worn look of the bill, tail, and claws. 

 I immediately suspected that this was caused by the 

 scarcity of trees having driven the bird to seek its food 

 among stones and rocks, and upon opening the stomach, 

 my suspicions were confirmed by the discovery, among 

 other insects, of several small beetles, which are found 

 only upon the hills. I may mention that these beetles 

 are very abundant in Shetland, although I do not 

 remember having seen any of the kind in England; 

 they are about the size and shape of one half of a spHt 

 pea, black, edged with scarlet. I afterwards saw 

 spotted woodpeckers in various parts of the hills and 

 walls, and even in high sea-cliffs ; I also saw them 

 on roofs of houses and upon dung-hills, and, although 

 several were killed upon corn-stacks I never found any 

 grain in the stomach. They were frequently to be met 

 with upon the ground among heather, where at all 

 times they were easily approached, but more particularly 

 in rainy or misty weather, when, their plumage becom- 

 ing saturated with moisture and rendering them too 

 heavy for a long flight, many were stoned to death by 

 boys. Those in the garden fed largely upon seeds of 

 the mountain-ash, which they broke open the berries 

 to procure, sometimes dropping a whole cluster upon 

 the ground and descending to feed, but more frequently 

 breaking, the berries to pieces as they hung upon ihe 

 trees. But even in the garden they did not confine 

 themselves to the trees; at one time they might be 

 seen busily searching among moss and dead leaves, at 

 another in the midst of a tuft of coarse weeds, and 

 again intently examining the spiders' webs upon the 

 walls. It was quite a common occurrence to see them 

 in the open meadows, scattering aside the horse-dung 

 with their bills, and thus procuring abundant supplies 

 of worms and grubs." This woodpecker, though an 

 unusual cage-bird, thrives well in confinement, and 



