118 THE BIRDS OF OXFOEDSHIRE. 



I have rarely seen one which had not some earth cling-mg' to 

 its beak. For this reason they suffer greatly when snow lies 

 deep on the ground, and many succumb in prolonged hard 

 weather, as for instance in January, 1881, when a great many 

 were brought to the stuff ers, and in the last ten days of 1886, 

 when no less than fifteen were taken to one man alone. The 

 lai'ger number of these last had been shot, for inconspicuous 

 as the Green Woodpecker is under ordinary cii'cumstances, it 

 is otherwise when snow covers the ground, and hunger has 

 rendered them less shy than is their wont. The presence of 

 a hole occupied by Woodpeckers is often discovered from the 

 heap of chips of freshly hewn wood, strewn round the foot of 

 the tree, catching the eye of the passer-by. 



All three species of Woodpecker are known in Oxfordshire 

 by the name ' Hickle,^ a corruption of ' Hickwall,' which is 

 used by Willughby in the seventeenth century. 



THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 



Dendrocopus major. 

 The Greater Spotted, or Pied, Woodpecker is a scarce 

 resident, found most commonly in our wooded parks. The 

 Messrs. Matthews state that its nest has been found near 

 Oxford, and the Rev. H. A. Macpherson informs me he has 

 seen it at Shotover. In Nuneham Park it is resident in small 

 numbers, Mr. E,. S. Batson informing me that he sees perhaps 

 one in every month. On the 26th May, 1888, Mr. Batson 

 discovered a hole in the trunk of an oak in the Black Wood 

 in which a pair of Pied Woodpeckers were nesting, and an 

 hour or two later I visited the spot with him. Mr, H. Gale 

 having ascended the tree, a piece of bark was carefully taken 

 out, and sufficient wood cut out ^\dth a chisel to enable him to 

 reach the bottom of the hole. Unfortunately one egg only 

 was found to be deposited, and, as it was desirable to obtain a 

 pair for the Park collection, we decided to try and induce the 

 hen bird to return to the hole. The egg was therefore put 



