178 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



ANXIOUS ENQUIRY: WOODPECKER 

 PEEPING OUT OF NESTING HOLE. 



and made use of by two others. The ubiquitous, 

 bullying sparrow takes forcible possession of the 

 house martin's nest, and rears unwelcome broods 

 of young in it, and the starling persistently steals 

 the green woodpecker's home. I have watched 

 a pair of the last-named birds hewing away at 

 intervals for a fortnight, and as soon as they had 

 completed their nesting hole, they were impu- 

 dently driven forth to start their labours all anew 

 by a pair of untidy old starlings. Indeed, it is 

 doubtful whether many green woodpeckers are 

 now able to breed in England at all until the 

 starlings have been accommodated with nesting 

 quarters. 



By selecting a nesting hole in a low-down 

 situation in the trunk of a tree, and building a 



