FALSE ASPERSIONS 223 



it, seems to disagree with all the other books, and 

 that one is the book of nature. 



There is another point, in which the green wood- 

 pecker either differs from its family, or shows that 

 its family has not been sufficiently observed. I have 

 read, somewhere — I am not quite sure where, but 

 it was a good work, and one of authority — this 

 sentence : " Some birds, such as woodpeckers and 

 (I forget the other) are supposed never to fight." 

 I can understand how this idea has got about, 

 because thrushes, which are commoner birds than 

 woodpeckers, and easier to watch, are, also, thought 

 not to fight. Of the thrush, and his doughty deeds, 

 of an early morning, I shall have no space to speak in 

 this volume, but I here offer my evidence that the 

 green woodpecker, at any rate, is '' a good fellow, and 

 will strike.'' As, however, I shall have to quote, 

 at some length, from my notes, I will defer doing 

 so to the following chapter. Perhaps I shall be 

 saying a little too much about the green wood- 

 pecker, but let it be taken in excuse that, feeling all 

 his charm, and having made a special study of him, I 

 yet say less than I know. 



