332 THE WOODPECKERS 



state. Both species, at any rate, have been seen to enter their nesting- 

 holes with beakfuls of flies and other insects. 1 The evidence as to re- 

 gurgitation so far produced is not convincing, and rests on statements 

 that have been made to the effect that the green-woodpecker at any rate 

 has been seen at the entrance to the nest, apparently endeavouring 

 to pump up from its internal recesses the necessary pabulum, which 

 eventually appears oozing from the corners of the bird's mouth in the 

 form of a cream-like substance. But it may well be that the insect 

 food is conveyed to the young in form of a bolus, as in the case of the 

 wrynecks (g.v.) and of rooks. 



The young of the green-woodpecker presents one feature hitherto 

 not recorded of either the great or lesser spotted species, or of the 

 wryneck. This, first described by Mr. J. H. Gurney, 2 is found in 

 nestlings when but a day or two old. Herein the lower jaw, on either 

 side of the gape, bears a large prominent knob, quite round and hard, 

 like a pea. As the bird grows the knob diminishes, and has almost 

 disappeared by the time the bird leaves the nest. It does not appear 

 that any similar structure is found in other species, but nevertheless 

 it may be found when specially sought for. They proclaim their 

 presence in the nest, if the tree be struck, by loud, serpentine hisses, 3 

 designed, unconsciously, to drive away marauders, and probably, in 

 most cases, the ruse is successful. From the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain 

 I gather that the presence of young may often be detected by a curious 

 " wail " or " squeal " uttered in chorus when they are hungry. And 

 this is true also of the greater spotted species. The heat inside such 

 a nesting-chamber, as may well be imagined, is stifling, so that it is not 

 surprising to find that as soon as they are able the occupants climb 

 out into the branches in the neighbourhood of the nest-hole, into 

 which they scuttle on the slightest alarm. Of the sanitation of the 

 nest no records seem to have been made, that is to say, we have yet to 



1 E. Selous, Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, 302 (lesser spotted) ; P. C. B. Jourdain. in litt. 

 (greater spotted). 

 ' Zoologist, 1901, 129. 

 8 According to Bosworth Smith, Bird Life and Bird Lore, p. 410. 



