WOODPECKERS AND THEIR ALLIES 59 



The bird deserves protection, for he does, as 

 " Larry Mackshale" once observed, "A rale 

 thundren' power o' good by hammerin' things 

 to pieces, if you plase." In fact, our old friend 

 acts just in that same way by the trees as the 

 rook and the jackdaw do by the cattle in keep- 

 ing the vermin under. What insects and grubs 

 can do in the way of harm to timber trees, is 

 best known to those who have had practical 

 experience of them in a business capacity ; and 

 this the yaffle from morning to night does his 

 best to prevent. 



The great spotted woodpecker, or, as it is 

 sometimes locally called, wood-pie, or French- 

 pie, may be briefly described, so far as its 

 plumage is concerned, as a black and white 

 bird with a crimson patch on the back of the 

 head, and on the under tail coverts. The iris 

 of this bird's eye is red, a marked distinction 

 from that of the yaffle, which is, as we have 

 mentioned, of a greyish-yellow. The wood-pie 

 is not rare in the districts I roam over ; but the 

 magpie itself is not a greater adept in dodg- 

 ing tricks to avoid observation than this red- 

 cap performer of kettledrum solos. He does 

 not drum quite so much as his small black 

 and white relative, which we shall presently 



