220 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



various sorts, especially ants and their eggs, form 

 the principal food of this bird, arid it is accord- 

 ingly more frequently seen on the ground than 

 any of the others. It is also alleged to be a great 

 enemy to bees. When excavating a hole in a tree 

 for the purpose of nesting, it is said these birds 

 will carry the chips away to a distance, in order 

 that they may not lead to a discovery of their 

 retreat, as other birds are known to carry away 

 the eggshells and offal of their young ones. The 

 green woodpecker makes no nest, but lays its eggs 

 on the loose soft fragments of the decayed wood. 

 It is one of the earliest birds to retire to rest in 

 the afternoon. Besides the name of rain-bird, it 

 has various other provincial appellations, as wood- 

 spite, hew pole, yaffle, whitill, and woodpie, or 

 woodwale. In the popular poem of the "Peacock 

 at Home," the following couplet occurs : 



" The skylark in ecstasy sang from a cloud, 

 And chanticleer crow'd, and the yaffil laugh'd loud." 



The WBYKECK is a curious and beautiful little 

 bird, which, although it is nearly related to the 

 woodpeckers, is distinct from them. It is a com~ 

 mon and well-known summer visitant, arriving 

 iust before the cuckoo ; from ^hich circumstance 

 it has been called " the cuckoo's mate." It lives 

 on insects and small ants, which it finds in abund- 



