THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKEE. 297 



They alighted on the timber, placed the body in a par- 

 ticular position, generally with the head downward" [differ- 

 ing in this respect from the Green Woodpecker], "and 

 commenced pecking away at the bark. Piece by piece it 

 fell under their bills, as chips from the axe of a woodman. 

 Upon examining the bark, I found that the pieces were 

 chipped away in order that the bird might arrive at a small 

 white grub which lay snugly embedded in the bark ; and 

 the adroitness of the bird in finding out those portions of 

 it which contained the greatest number of grubs, was 

 certainly very extraordinary. Wliere the birds were most 

 at work, on a particular tree, I shelled off the bark and 

 found nearly thirty grubs in nine square inches ; but on 

 shelling off another portion from the same tree, which 

 remained untouched, no grub was visible. Yet how the 

 bird could ascertain precisely where his food lay was 

 singular, as in both cases the surface of the bark appeared 

 the same, and bore no traces of having been perforated by 

 insects. During the day one bird chipped off a piece thirty 

 inches long and twenty wide — a considerable day's work 

 for so small a workman." Another observer states that this 

 bird rarely descends to the ground, and affects the upper 

 branches of trees in preference to the lower. Its note is 

 like that of the Green Woodpecker. Eoth species are 

 charged with resorting to gardens and orchards during the 

 fruit season, not in quest of insect food ; but no instance 

 of this has come under my own notice. It is said, too> 

 that they eat nuts. This statement is most probably correct. 

 I myself doubt whether there are many birds of any sort 

 which can resist a walnut ; and I would recommend any 

 one who is hospitably disposed towards the birds which 

 frequent his garden, to strew the ground with fragments of 

 these nuts. To birds who are exclusively vegetarians, if 

 indeed there be any such indigenous to Britain, they are a 

 natural article of diet, and as from their oily nature they 

 approximate to animal matter, they are most acceptable to 



