(i II KEN WOODPECKER 185 



of a tree. This energy and intensity of life shows itself also in his 

 motions, gestures, and language. His very qualities of eagerness 

 and determination in splitting up the wood in which his prey lies 

 concealed, and the loud racket he is compelled to make at such 

 times, call upon him the undesirable attentions of the species that 

 are Ids enemies : he must, when hammering on a tree, be exceed- 

 ingly vigilant all the while, less some prowling sparrow-hawk or 

 swift-descending falcon shall take him unawares. The wood he 

 exerts his strength on does not absorb his whole attention : his eyes 

 are all the time glancing this way and that, and on the slightest 

 appearance of danger he is nimble as a squirrel to place the trunk 

 or branch between himself and a possible enemy. After a few 

 moments of hiding his red head becomes visible as he peeps 

 cautiously round the trunk, and if the danger be then over he goes 

 back to his task. In the presence of a winged enemy he finds his 

 safety in clinging to the trunk, round which he can move so rapidlj', 

 as on the wing he is a heavy bird ; but hawks are now rare in 

 England, and his chief persecutors are men with guns. 



The language of the green woodpecker, or yaffle, as he is called 

 in the southern counties, adds greatly to his attractiveness ; his ring- 

 ing cry is a sound to rejoice the hearer. Many of the woodpeckers 

 have extremely powerful voices, and the cry of the great black 

 woodpecker of continental Europe has been described by one 

 familiar with it as being like the ' yell of a demon.' This ' demon ' 

 must, I imagine, be a very blithe-hearted one, and its ' yell ' an 

 expression of wild, joyous, woodland life which we should be glad to 

 listen to in England. Our bird's voice is not so powerful ; but who 

 has not been made happier for a whole day by hearing his ' loud 

 laugh,' as one of our old poets has called his cry ? It is a clear, 

 piercing sound, so loud and sudden that it startles you, full of wild 

 liberty and gladness ; and when I listen for and fail to hear it in 

 park or forest, I feel that I have missed a sound for which no other 

 bird cry or melody can compensate me. 



This species is found in woods and parks throughout England as 

 far north as Derbyshire and the south of Yorkshire ; farther north 

 he is very rare as a breeder, and in Ireland is only known as a 

 straggler. In seeking his food he climbs obliquely up the trunk, 

 until, having mounted to the higher branches, he passes with a dip- 

 ping flight to the next tree, invariably alighting near the roots. In 

 summer he feeds a great deal on the ground, especially on ants, of 

 which he is very fond. The breeding-hole is usually made in a soft- 



