148 rrciD.E. 



to escape observation, so tliat it is generally considered to be 

 mucli more rare. It is heard to make the same sort of jarring 

 noise as the other Woodpeckers, but not so loud ; it is said 

 to be most partial to woods of beech and oak, and also to 

 frequent the tops of large elms. It chooses small holes in 

 trees, as an obvious security against the intrusion of birds 

 larger than itself, and Colonel Montagu mentions having in 

 one instance found five eggs, deposited on the rotten wood, 

 without any nest, at a considerable distance below the aper- 

 ture, which corresponded with the size of the bird, but did 

 not appear to have been recently made. The eggs are 

 smooth, of a delicate spotless flesh-coloured tint, before they 

 are blown, the colour of the yelk appearing through the trans- 

 parent albumen and thin shell ; but when blown, the egg- 

 shells are thin, of a pure and shining white, nine lines and a 

 half in length, by seven lines in breadth, and very similar to 

 the eggs of the Wryneck. 



The food of this species is small insects, which they occa- 

 sionally seek among long grass on the ground, but are gene- 

 rally seen examining the bark of trees, searching the branches 

 rather than the trunks, from the crevices in which they with- 

 draw such as they find within the reach of their long tongue, and 

 the glutinous secretion with which it is covered. Mr. Gould, 

 in his birds of Europe says, this little Woodpecker is fre- 

 quently to be seen searching for insects on the moss-covered 

 branches of orchard fruit trees. 



This species is not uncommon around London, and may 

 be seen in Kensington Gardens, and I find notices of its 

 occurrence in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dor- 

 setshire, and Cornwall ; it has also been noticed in Glouces- 

 tershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, and as far 

 north, on the west side, as Lancashire. I am not aware that 

 it has been found in Ireland. From London eastward and 

 northward it has been found in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, 



