278 CONIFEROUS TREES 



by the blackcock and grouse ; the pigeon feeds 

 largely on acorns and beech-mast ; while finches 

 and the crossbill devour and destroy quantities 

 of tree seeds, the latter favouring those of the 

 Scotch Pine, Spruce, and other coniferous trees. 

 The bullfinch preys on the early tender shoots of 

 the Larch, and is particularly destructive to the 

 buds of the currant and gooseberry. 



The great woodpecker will attack healthy as 

 well as diseased trees, and encircle the stems with 

 rings of holes, which are arranged horizontally. 

 When the trees are badly pierced with lines of 

 holes arranged shelf-like, one above the other, the 

 trunk frequently snaps across during stormy 

 weather, and several such cases were observed in 

 a Kentish plantation during the past season. In 

 the same woodland, however, unhealthy and insect- 

 infested trees of the Scotch and Cluster Pines were 

 also attacked, and telephone and telegraph poles 

 by the roadside. The holes are usually 2 inches 

 in diameter, and extend inwards according to the 

 depth at which insects are to be found. In some 

 cases the timber of the attacked tree has been 

 entirely removed by the woodpecker, leaving only 

 the bark intact. 



Although hurtful by picking holes in living tree 

 stems, it would appear that the utility of the wood- 

 pecker, in destroying injurious beetles in un- 

 healthy trees, outweighs any harm it may do in 

 attacking healthy specimens. 



Birds undoubtedly do much injury, but the 

 amount of good they do in the way of destroying 

 insect pests far outweighs the evil. 



Starlings are at times quite a nuisance, especially 



