44 WOODLAND CREATURES 



chorus of excited cries. The one that was pursued 

 did not seem to over-exert itself, soon alighting 

 upon the trunk of a tall oak, round which the 

 game of hide-and-seek was repeated, until once 

 more the leader flew off. Its mate, or would-be 

 mate, darted after it with the same outcry, to 

 which the first bird replied, so that the wood 

 echoed with their clamour. To and fro among 

 the trees they went, working round a certain 

 area, their course embracing a circle that was 

 about three hundred yards in diameter. They 

 seldom went outside this circle, but for more 

 than half an hour continued to fly round it. 

 How much longer the game would have gone on 

 I cannot say, for an involuntary sneeze attracted 

 their attention to me. " Chigh ! chigh ! " they 

 cried, giving the danger call, as they spied me 

 below, and vanished straightway. 



What struck me particularly about this court- 

 ship was that neither bird drummed. Drumming 

 may have its place in their courtship, but this 

 love-making was far too energetically conducted 

 to allow time for making music on a dead branch. 

 Woodpeckers only drum during fine weather, and 

 are seldom heard during a stormy period, but a 

 calm warm day will make them as noisy as ever. 

 During the spring of 1919 one pair in particular 

 kept up an incessant drumming. Near the silver 

 birch in which they had excavated their nesting 

 hole was a half-dead spruce, the top of which had 

 been blown off during a gale. They spent all 

 their spare moments on this splintered trunk, 



