LARKS, WOODPECKERS, ETC. IQ 
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 imbedded 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. 
Where 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 sin- 
gular, as in both cases the surface of the bark ap- 
peared the same, and bore no traces of having been 
perforated byinsects. 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.” 
The bird, however, does not confine itself to 
burrowing insects, but also destroys large numbers of 
other creatures which conceal themselves in the 
crevices of the bark, or which hide away beneath it 
when loosened by any cause. Among its favourite 
victims are woodlice, or “ monkey-peas,” as provincial 
nomenclators dub them, whose powers of mischief 
are only too well known to every gardener. 
All the woodpeckers are very shy birds, and, even 
if their presence be detected owing to the sound of 
their proceedings, will keep the trunk of a tree so 
persistently between themselves and the would-be 
O 
