178 THE BIRDS OF COOKHAM AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
his hand, and a coil of rope to tie himself to the tree, and 
to let down the branch. After great exertions he reached the 
nest, and having secured himself, he sawed off the branch, 
and let it down to the ground without breaking an egg. He 
was by this time nearly exhausted, and could hardly move, 
but at length he reached the ground where his wife was waiting 
for him, having been dreadfully frightened at seeing the danger he 
was in. This was the most perilous climb he ever had, but he 
has procured several nests of this species for Mr. Gould, and I do 
not despair of having the eggs in my own collection before long, 
as they are not rare. Mrs. De Vitré bas a fine pair of the birds 
in her collection, and I have a nice male and female in my own. 
Mr. Gould does not mention a peculiar habit of this bird in his 
Birds of Great Britain, which is, the way in which they call and © 
answer each other. The note of the larger species can be heard 
along distance off, and its voice is powerful; but the present 
species has a very weak note indeed, though somewhat re- 
sembling the cry of P. major. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 
is one of the earliest birds to pair; and at the period of nidifica- 
tion they are exceedingly busy, and constantly uttering their note. 
Now, as the tall poplar trees in which the birds breed are at 
either end of a very large field, separated from each other by 
about three hundred yards, the call note of the bird would not 
penetrate a quarter of the distance. It often happens that the two 
birds are at opposite sides of the field, so in order to call its mate, 
one of them runs up to the topmost and thinnest branches of the 
tree, tapping vigorously all the while, the tirr-r-v-r becoming 
shriller as the bird ascends. In this manner he can call his mate, 
for the sound can be heard a very long way off, and he is answered 
in the same way by the bird from the other side of the field. 
This species is very restless in its flight, flitting constantly from 
bough to bough at the tops of the poplar trees. Mr. Briggs tells 
me that Woodpeckers, but more especially the present species, 
when shot, cling to the trunk of the tree in their dying grasp, 
and many, although quite dead, so that it sometimes requires a 
second shot to dislodge them. 
R. B. SHArre. 
To be continued, 
