284 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



The Wood- The green Woodpecker is the variety best 

 pecker, known in England, where it inhabits the woods 

 and feeds upon the insects it finds in the bark of trees. 

 Audubon writing of the "Ivory-billed" variety says: "The 

 birds pay great regard to the particular situation of the tree, 

 and the inclination of its trunk; first, because they prefer 

 retirement, and again, because they are anxious to secure the 

 aperture against the access of water during beating rains. To 

 prevent such a calamity the hole is generally dug immediately 

 under the junction of a large branch with the trunk. It is 

 first bored horizontally for a few inches, then directly down- 

 wards, and not in a spiral manner as some people have 

 imagined. According to circumstances, this cavity is more or 

 less deep, being sometimes more than ten inches, whilst at 

 other times it reaches three feet downwards into the core of 

 the tree. The average diameter of the different nests which 

 I have examined was about seven inches within, although 

 the entrance, which is perfectly round, is only just large 

 enough to admit the bird." Wilson declares that during the 

 excavation of its nest, which occupies several days, the wood- 

 pecker will often carry the chips and strew them at a distance 

 to divert suspicion. Audubon describing the Red-headed 

 Woodpecker says : " With the exception of the mocking 

 bird, I know no species so gay and frolicsome. Their whole 

 life is one of pleasure." 



The This bird which was known to the Greeks, and 



Wryneck, described by Aristotle, forms with its allied species 

 a connecting link between the Woodpecker and the Cuckoo. 

 It feeds on caterpillars and insects which it catches with its 

 long sticky tongue, with such rapidity of movement that the 

 eye cannot follow it. 



The Cuckoo. The Cuckoo is always welcomed in England 

 as the harbinger of Spring. Its cry is one of the most easily 

 distinguished of bird songs, and is the nearest approach to 

 a definite musical interval produced by any bird. The habit 



