GEEATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 119 



back, the abstracted wood made good with some clay, and the 

 bark neatly replaced and nailed on. We then lay down in the 

 wood to await the retui'n of the old birds, which could be 

 heard tapping' on the neighbouring trees. After a short 

 interval the hen bird came to the tree, but detecting a slight 

 movement on our part (consequent upon the attacks of swarms 

 of most rapacious midges), darted away again. A little later 

 she again settled on the tree close to the hole, but appeared to 

 see that something was wrong and flew off. The male after- 

 wards arrived and hammered away for a few minutes on a 

 partly rotten bough at the top of the tree, but as the hen did 

 not return we left the place. On revisiting the spot the next 

 day we failed to detect the birds, which, however, were heard 

 'jarring'' in the vicinity. Nevertheless the hen bird must 

 have returned and laid on that day, for, on the hole being 

 examined on the 30th, five eggs were found to be deposited, 

 and the male bird was captured in the hole, showing that 

 incubation had commenced. This incident is interesting, 

 because it illustrates the extreme attachment of Woodpeckers 

 to the nesting-hole they have selected. Two more nests, 

 containing young birds, were found in the park in July of 

 the same year, Mr. Gale^s attention beiag* called to them by 

 the chattering of the young birds inside the hole. Mr. Batson, 

 in communicating the discovery, remarks — ' this is incessant, 

 and varies somewhat with the position of the young birds, as 

 they occasionally come to the mouth of the hole and then 

 retire well inside, but can still be distinctly heard ' [in I'd.). In 

 Broughton Park the Pied Woodpecker probably breeds, as I 

 have seen several specimens both in the adult and immature 

 plumage which had been procured there. In Mollington 

 Wood the Rev. H. Holbech captured a young bird, hardly able 

 to fly, in June, 1882, and Mr. W. W. Fowler observed one in 

 Churchill Heath Wood, near Kingham, in May, 1888, where 

 they are not uncommonly seen by the keeper. In autumn and 

 winter it is more generally diffused, and a year seldom passes 



