THE WOODPECKERS 53 



a nest. It is more erratic than the smaller 

 'pecker with regard to the height at which it 

 excavates its hole. I have found an occupied 

 nest in a pollard-willow but three feet from the 

 ground, and another more than thirty feet up 

 in a wych-elm. 



A peculiarity of this bird which is worth noting 

 is the great muscles of the tongue. These pass 

 round the bottom of the skull, over the back of 

 the head, and originate near the base of the bill ! 

 But the woodpeckers are bundles of peculiarities, 

 all more or less adaptations connected with their 

 life among the trees ; feet for clinging to the bark, 

 stiff tails on which to rest against it, strong beaks 

 for probing and boring in the wood, especially 

 such as is decaying and is the home of many 

 insects, for it is almost entirely on insects that 

 our three woodpeckers live, and by doing so help 

 to keep our forests and woodlands free from 

 many pests. 



(The Green Woodpecker of England and Wales is 

 the same form that is found in Central Europe from 

 France eastward, and has been dubbed Picus viridis 

 virescens, Brehm, to distinguish it from the Scan- 

 dinavian, Italian, and other races, all of which are 

 ranked as sub-species of P. viridis, Linn. 



Of the Spotted Woodpeckers we have our British 

 races ; Dryobates major, Linn., the Greater Spotted, 

 being represented by D. m. anglicus, Hartert ; the 

 numbers of which are reinforced in the winter by 

 visitors of the North European form, D. m. major ; 



