84 BRITISH BIRDS. 



A GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER'S NESTING- 

 HOLE. 



In the early part of June, 1910, I had an opportunity of 

 observing in Kent a Great Spotted Woodpecker {Dendrocopus 

 major) preparing its nesting-hole. The site chosen was the 

 bole of a beech-tree. The cavity was he\Mi by the bu-d in dead 

 wood, which, however, was not decayed, and which was so 

 hard that little or no impression could be made upon it by 

 the finger-nail. Notwithstanding the hardness of the wood, 

 the excavation was completed, from start to finish, in about 

 eight days. The mass of white wood-chips resulting from the 

 bird's operations presented a remarkable appearance, and 

 closely resembled a snow-drift, extending a couple of yards 

 from the base of the tree. Unfortunately, the Woodpecker 

 was evicted by a Starling as soon as the nesting-site had been 

 completed, but before she left the locality the Woodpecker 

 laid one egg a short distance from the nesting-tree. 



Edward Eaele. 



TAWNY OWL NESTING IN A RABBIT-BURROW. 



A Tawny Owl [Syrnium aluco) nested in a rabbit-hole this 

 year at Sheringham, Norfolk, and brought off four young ones. 

 The hole had a large mouth and the nest was about three feet 

 down. H. M. Upcher. 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE BRITISH KITE. 



A FEW years ago the continued existence of the Kite {Milvus 

 ictinus) as a British species seemed doomed. The bird (except 

 for a rare straggler at long intervals) was, and indeed still is, 

 confined to Wales, and in 1905 the total number surviving 

 was believed to be only five. Those who had up to that time 

 done their best to keep the Kites alive were fain to admit 

 that their doom seemed sealed, and some even suggested 

 that eggs should be imported from the Continent and jjlaced 

 in the nests of Buzzards ! Had this been done, and had the 

 experiment been successful, it need hardly be pointed out 

 that the Kite as an indigenous species would have imme- 

 diately been lost, and been replaced by an introduced bird. 

 Fortunately, in 1905, Mr. E. G. B. Meade- Waldo took up the 

 duty of protecting the Kites on behalf of the British Ornitho- 

 logists' Club, and the result of five years of unremitting care, 

 and the expenditure of much money, has been that the British 

 Kite, if not now safe, is at all events so far increased in numbers 

 that its extinction is unlikely. A little while ago Mr. Meade- 



