332 BRITISH BIRDS. 



found in a shoot, but in both cases the bird's method of pro- 

 cedure is the same, although its object seems more easily 

 attained where the wood is decayed. 



The grub does not seem to affect the gro^^iih of the shoots, 

 and I could never find external evidence as to whether a grub 

 was inside or not, and to me it is a comj)lete puzzle how the 

 bird ascertains which shoots contain grubs when thousands 

 of the unaffected shoots are growing side bj'^ side and many of 

 them so much alike that it is impossible for a man to find any 

 difference in them. I have occasionally found traces of two 

 grubs in one hole, one grub having been removed by the bird 

 whilst the other has gnawed its way out. In this case it seems 

 that grub number one has been assisted from his lodgings, 

 whilst number two appears to have eaten his way through 

 the wooden walls. My reasons for supposing this are that if 

 left entirely to itself the grub always eats its way out at the 

 very top of the central burrow, quite horizontally ; it is there, 

 too, that the grub is mostly taken by the bird, and its career 

 as a living entity ceases. The second grub, finding itself in 

 the tunnel already made, gnaws its way out much lower down. 

 It also seems to me that the bird searches for the chrysalis 

 with even greater success, as this is invariably lodged near the 

 bark. Here I have never seen more than one hole made by 

 the Woodpecker, and that a comparatively small one, as in 

 this stage the insect appears more easily extracted, but the 

 character of the hole made by the bird is unmistakeable. 



J. W. Smalls. 



DOES THE MALE OR FEMALE WOODPECKER BORE 

 THE NESTING-HOLE ? 



Can any of the readers of British Birds inform me whether 

 it is only the female Woodpecker which bores the hole for the 

 nest, or whether both sexes take a share in this operation ? 



F. Tapsell. 

 [Reliable modern observations on the share of boring by 

 the sexes of the British Woodpeckers seem to be very scanty, 

 which is the more remarkable as they can be distinguished 

 Avithout difficulty. Xaumann implies that both sexes of Green 

 Woodpecker bore, though he does not definitely state the fact. 

 Boring in the case of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is said 

 to be performed by both sexes (Messrs. Walpole Bond, 

 C. Dixon, etc.), but fresh observations on this point are much 

 needed. ^Ir. Harting quotes an anonymous observer A\ho 

 saw both sexes of Green Woodpecker working hard at a hole, 

 the first piece of bark being removed by the hen, and the 



