WOODPECKERS IN DEVONSHIRE 133 



' O blessed drums of Aldershot ! 

 O blest South-Western train ! 

 O blessed, blessed speaker's clock ! 

 All prophesying rain. 



' O blessed yaffil laughing loud ! 



O blessed falling grass ! 

 O blessed fan of cold gray cloud ! 

 O blessed smelling grass ! 



' O blest South Wind which toots his horn 



Through every hole and crack ! 

 I'm off at eight to-morrow morn 

 To bring such fishes back !' 



When shooting in Devonshire some four or five 

 years ago, I was much struck with the large num- 

 ber of green woodpeckers in the district in which 

 I was staying. The country was well wooded, 

 as is, indeed, nearly the whole of that county ; 

 but there was in addition a long stretch of rough, 

 sandy fields, extending for nearly a mile between 

 two large woodlands, evidently a clearing, and 

 this ground was covered with mole-hills, afford- 

 ing a plentiful supply of ants, which are the 

 woodpecker's favourite food, for, as I have before 

 remarked, these insects may be found in any old 

 mole-hill. 



But few really good fishing-days fall to the 

 lot of the angler during the season ; before 

 rain neither salmon or trout are ever in the 

 humour, and on such occasions the woodpecker 

 is apt to be especially noisy. There is, on a 

 well-known salmon-river in one of our Southern 



