MAY 119 



now that there is once more a considerable extent of 

 woodland north of the Tweed. I have failed twice in 

 the attempt; the first time with two fine broods of young 

 yaffles which the late Lord Lilford obtained for me in 

 Hungary. These were delayed for many hours at a 

 German railway station, and perished of starvation. A 

 second lot of six, captured just as they were fit to fly in 

 a Norfolk orchard, arrived safely at their destination ; 

 but I was away from home at the time, and those to 

 whose charge they were committed failed to discover the 

 secret of making them eat ; so they also died one by one. 

 But I am determined to try again, and to succeed, if 

 possible, before I, too, cross that bourne. 1 



The gay plumage of the green woodpecker, like the 

 kingfisher's, strikes a strange note of colour under our 

 grey northern skies. It carries a tropical suggestion; 

 but the bird has more than his verdant jacket, scarlet 

 cap, yellow rump, and chequered tail feathers to com- 

 mend him to our affection. He is one of the most effec- 

 tive of woodland police, licking up with his prehensile 

 tongue innumerable insects hurtful to forest trees. The 

 pine-beetle, for instance, which works such ravages among 

 coniferous trees, is absolutely beyond check or control 

 of man, multiplying with incredible rapidity under the 

 rotting bark of fallen timber, whence it directs attack 

 in swarms of maggots upon the young growth. The 

 yaffle makes short work of this pest, and small thanks 



1 Since writing these lines I have received discouragement from one 

 whose authority in matters ornithological is worthy of respect. He 

 says that it is hopeless to attempt naturalising the green woodpecker, 

 except in places where the great wood ants abound. We have plenty 

 of yellow and red ants, but the wood ant disappeared with the forest 

 from this south-west corner of Scotland, and has not yet found its 

 way back. 



