THE WOODPECKERS 45 



making the woods ring with the peculiar vibrating 

 sound that they are such adepts at producing. 

 Indeed, a wood that is tenanted by woodpeckers 

 is always full of noise and life. The Green Wood- 

 pecker in particular is seldom silent, its impish 

 laughter ringing far through the trees. It is 

 this call which gives it its local name of the 

 " Yaffle/' 



That nesting begins at the end of March or 

 early in April has already been mentioned, and 

 to this must be added that the Spotted Wood- 

 peckers spare no labour, never, in my experience, 

 returning to a previous season's abode, but always 

 set to work and peck out a new nesting hole. 

 However, this may be a matter of necessity, not 

 inclination, for all the old woodpecker holes in 

 these woods are seized early in the spring by 

 nest-hunting starlings. These unprincipled birds 

 will even go further, and annex a new nesting 

 hole as soon as the hardworking woodpeckers 

 have completed it. Even the big strong Green 

 Woodpecker has all it can do to hold its own 

 against the active starlings, and as for the Greater 

 Spotted it is no match for them. The starlings 

 are quicker witted, are quicker to act, and have 

 evicted the rightful owner's eggs, and filled the 

 hole with the mass of odds and ends that constitute 

 their nest, before the poor woodpeckers realize 

 what has happened. A bad case of usurpation 

 came under my notice a year or two ago. A 

 tapping noise led me to investigate a certain 

 rather shaky looking silver birch. Sure enough 



