KINGFISHER.— GREEN WOODPECKER. 173 



one of these birds may be seen suspended by a string from 

 the ceiling, the idea being that the bill always points in the 

 direction of the wind. 



PICID^. 



GREEN WOODPECKER. 



Gecinus viridis. 



This, the largest and commonest of the British species, is 

 found wherever there is old timber, frequenting the outer 

 edges of the woods and the open glades, rather than the 

 thicker portions, as well as the scattered trees of our parks. 

 It climbs with great facility, and diligently searches the 

 crevices in the bark of the trunk and the large limbs. It 

 bores a truly circular hole, deep into the timber, in which it 

 lays its eggs on the rotten wood and those chips which are 

 not thrown out, forming no other nest. 



Notwithstanding its large size and its powerful bill, it is 

 often dispossessed by the Starling. In the summer it may 

 frequently be seen on the ground, probing with its long tongue 

 the nests of the ants ; its motions then resemble those of a 

 Parrot. I have several times watched both the old birds and 

 their young thus employed. Its flight is undulating, and in 

 passing from tree to tree it utters a loud laughing cry, in 

 some degree like the neighing of a horse, and on this account 

 it has acquired the name of " Yaffil." It is also, from its 

 uttering it most frequently in stormy weather, known as the 

 " Rain Bird." It is very harmless, seldom attacking the 

 sounder parts of the wood. When perforating the tree, its 

 tail may be observed to be constantly twisting round and 

 i^ound, as if polishing the surface of the wood. 



