COLOURS OF WOODPECKERS 



behaviour is complicated by a course of action which 

 was first made known by that well equipped ornitho- 

 logist, the late Mr. Gould, who went to Australia in 1837 

 for the joint purpose of collection and observation. 

 The male builds with some little, but not much, assist- 

 ance from the female, whose main role is to look on and 

 admire, "a kind of archway or bower made upon a plat- 

 form of twigs by other twigs, interlaced where they 

 meet at the top. Round and in this are scattered 

 attractive objects, coloured, or startling by their white- 

 ness. Bleached bones and gaily coloured shells and 

 pebbles combine to form an aesthetic playing ground. 

 Round and through this the male rushes in amorous 

 play, delighting the female by his beauty and activity. 

 It is thought that the love of the little jackdaw for the 

 cardinal's ruby ring is a germ of the same, and in the 

 bower bird more fully developed, habit. The nest, it 

 should be remarked, has nothing to do with the bower ; 

 it is constructed for business purposes only, and is plain 

 and unadorned. 



THE GREEN WOODPECKER 



Woodpeckers are numerous, wherever there are trees, 

 in nearly all parts of the world ; but they do not occur 

 in Australia, or in that peculiarly peopled island, 

 Madagascar. Woodpeckers are apt to be gay in colour, 

 and of all colours. Green, red, yellow, pure white, and 

 more dingy hues ornament the birds. Our own green 

 woodpecker (Gecinus viridis) is a good type of the race 

 to consider more closely ; and, indeed, one woodpecker 

 is as good as another, or nearly so, to illustrate the 

 peculiarities of this rather sharply marked off group of 

 birds. A thick strong bill and (save in one or two kinds) 

 four toes, of which two are turned forwards and two 

 backwards, thus affording a strong grip upon the bark 



1 60 



