208 SCANSORES. CUCULID.E. 



the- point of its beak into a crack of the limb of 

 a large tree, and making a quick tremulous mo- 

 tion with its head, occasions a sound as if the 

 tree were splitting, which alarms the insects, and 

 induces them to quit their recesses: this it re- 

 peats every minute or two for half an hour, and 

 will then fly to another tree, generally fixing 

 itself near the top for the same purpose. The 

 noise may be distinctly heard for half a mile. 

 This bird will also keep its head in very quick 

 motion while moving about the tree for food, 

 jarring the bark, and shaking it, at the time it is 

 seeking for insects. 



Like the rest of this Family, the Spotted 

 Woodpecker inhabits holes which it has chiselled 

 out of the solid timber of trees ; and in these 

 warm, and weather-tight chambers, the females 

 perform the business of incubation. Colonel 

 Montagu relates the following instance of the 

 pertinacity with which the bird remains in her 

 domicile while sitting : " It was with difficulty 

 the bird was made to quit her eggs ; for, notwith- 

 standing a chisel and mallet were used to enlarge 

 the hole, she did not attempt to fly out till the 

 hand was introduced, when she quitted the tree 

 at another opening. The eggs were five in num- 

 ber, perfectly white and glossy." 



FAMILY IV. CUCULID^E. 



(Cuckoos.) 



" So faintly," observes Mr. Swainson, " is the 

 scansorial structure indicated in these birds, that 

 but for their natural habits, joined to the position 



