PICIDZ. Q47 
in Britain, and three of the others have only been 
obtained once each. 
GREEN WooprPEckER, Picus viridis. The Green 
Woodpecker, or “ Woodwall,” as it is often called, 
is resident with us all the year, and is not at all an 
uncommon bird in all parts of the county: its 
wild laughing cry may often be heard, and is a much 
more certain indication of the presence of one of 
these birds than the well-known ‘‘ Woodpecker 
tapping the hollow beech tree,” which tapping noise, 
though occasionally caused by a Woodpecker, espe- 
cially the Lesser Spotted, is much more generally 
made by a Nuthatch hammering away at a refractory 
nut. 
The food of the Green Woodpecker consists 
mostly of the different insects which can be found 
hid under the moss or the bark of trees, especially 
where the bark is a little loose or rotten. The bird 
generally begins its search for these insects at or 
near the bottom of a tree, and gradually works its 
way upward and round and round, but never down- 
wards. Itis by no means limited in its choice of 
food to such insects as may be found in trees, but it 
may quite as frequently be seen on the ground 
searching for grubs and worins, especially for ants 
and their eggs which form a very favourite portion 
of its food. This is the last of M. Prevost’s birds 
birds which I shall have to quote: his list of food is 
