on the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.



1S7



couple of days afterwards and found that they had shifted from

the side of the wood to some large Elm and Poplar trees at the

bottom of the field close to a brook, here they were busy running

up the smaller limbs hammering and pecking.


I did not see the third hen, but as the two were all right, I

had no reason to doubt but what the other was also.


A few days before releasing the birds, I fed them princi¬

pally on caterpillars, earwigs and such insects as the birds would

be able to find when at large, this should always be done before

giving birds their freedom, especially the insectivorous species.


It is a great mistake to turn a bird loose after being fed for

a long time in captivity on a soft food, mealworms and gentles,

etc., it cannot find these foods when given its liberty, and being

thoroughly used to this diet, it naturally looks for it and I am

convinced, many, if allowed their liberty, would soon get thick

and starve, especially hand-reared birds.


The two males which I kept, soon made holes through

their cages, so much so that they looked as if they had been

riddled with large bullets, and the new cages I had to have lined

with zinc.


The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is far rarer than the

Greater Spotted or Green ar.d its habits are somewhat different.

The nesting hole of the two latter species is invariably bored

into the main trunk of the tree, whilst that of the former species

is almost always bored into a limb projecting up from the trunk

and this often in a dead limb, only a few feet in circumference.

The favourite tree chosen is generally a tall Poplar or Elm,

occasionally an Oak or Apple tree.


They seldom alight upon the main trunk like the other

Woodpeckers, but prefer to run up and search over all the

smaller dead boughs and twigs for their food. This bird likes to

keep to himself and I have never seen more than one at a time,

except in the spring of the year, when they have paired.


If the weather in early March should be sunny and fine

the cock of this species will commence his call of Ke, Ke, Ke,

repeated several times in succession, something like the note of

the Wryneck, but pitched in a much higher key. This bird (the

cock) also makes a loud jarring noise at this season of the year,



