36 IN BIRD-LAND 



dently not long cast up. Green Woodpeckers 

 were "laughing" all around, their loud yaf-yaf- 

 yaf-yaf-yaf sound ing in the distance uncommonly 

 like the neighing of a horse. Occasionally we 

 heard the loud tapping which they make while 

 making their nesting-hole, and in many trees 

 signs of their work were visible. This seemed to 

 be the commonest Woodpecker in this forest, 

 while in our woods nearer home, not a great 

 distance off, the Great Spotted Woodpecker is 

 the most abundant, one or two places I know of 

 where it is almost common. 



A pair always breed near my home, the tapping 

 surely indicating the place where search may 

 successfully be made. What a number of 

 attempts this Woodpecker makes at boring a 

 hole for its nest before it finally settles on a 

 suitable tree ! In an orchard north of London 

 I have counted over a dozen holes in the sur- 

 rounding trees, these ranging from half an inch 

 to two or -more inches in depth. When the one 

 which the birds had finally chosen was finished, 

 I placed my fingers in the hole, when the hen 

 inside resented such intrusion into her home by 

 promptly seizing hold of my little finger ; she 

 held on tightly until I gently withdrew my hand, 

 but even then was determined to hold on if 



