THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 61 



larger stretches of woodland. It often feeds upon 

 the ground and in banks of hedges ; both Mr. 

 Mitchell, and myself, have seen it thus engaged, 

 apparently searching for ants ; one, however, that 

 Mr. Gatcombe dissected, had its stomach crammed 

 with the white larvpe of a wood-boring beetle. In 

 severe weather this bird suffers severely ; 

 Mr. Gatcombe saw many taken to the Plymouth 

 birdstuffers at such times, the males often being in 

 " exceedingly fine plumage." Mr. Mitchell writes 

 that a few winters ago, during a prevalence of sharp 

 weather, a boy caught a Green Woodpecker alive in 

 a deep hole in the bank of a hedge, where the poor 

 bird had crept presumably for shelter. This was in 

 the neighbourhood of Tavistock. In July, 1880, 

 young Green Woodpeckers were unusually plenti- 

 ful near Plymouth ; many were caught alive, and 

 others killed in various ways (Zool. 1881. p 197). 

 A curious departure from the usual habits of this 

 Woodpecker stands recorded by Mr. Gatcombe, 

 who wrote, under date February 5th 1873, " walked 



along the coast to Bovisand, where I observed 



a Green Woodpecker busily searching for food 



along the face of the cliffs overhanging the sea, 

 some miles from any kind of wood. I have often 

 observed the Green Woodpecker on the bare coast 

 before" (Zool. 187;J. p. 3466). This interesting 

 observation has been independently corroborated, 

 and confirmed, by the Rev. F. J. Dickinson, who 

 writes, "A pair of Green Woodpeckers built their nest 



