LN ie MONTE OF: JUNE 81 
out his little notes almost unheeding us— 
a trusting little bird. A search revealed the 
reason of his joy: we saw a nest agog with 
four hungry gaping beaks, waiting with eager- 
ness the tender morsel or the worm. 
We heard the quick laughing ‘ Glou, glou, 
glou, gluck’ of the green woodpecker, but 
did not even catch a glimpse of him. For 
this nimble climber is a most shy bird, and 
(using his strong tail to aid him as he makes 
his steep ascents) he quickly puts the tree 
or stump on which he climbs between him 
and yourself. Besides his characteristic notes, 
the well known ‘tap’ on the bark, to make 
the insects upon which he feeds forsake the 
cracks and crannies where they hide, will tell 
you where he is.t. But to hear him tap, you 
1 Some doubt has been thrown on this generally 
accepted reason for the tapping, for woodpeckers kept 
in captivity have been observed to tap on the smooth 
bare planed posts of the large cage in which they were 
confined, which certainly did not harbour insects, and 
the birds did not appear to be searching for any. The 
habit may be simply for cleaning the point of the beak, 
in the same way as the canary so often does on the 
perch of its cage. 
B.N. G 
