80 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



Before giving the food to the young, the parent woodpecker first arranges 

 it in her beak, and then, turning her head on one side, transfers it to that of 

 the youngster with a curious quivering movement of the mandibles, the young 

 receiving it in the same manner. 



At length the day arrives when the young woodpeckers are sufficiently 

 developed to leave the nest. This state of affairs does not imply that they 

 are able to fly well but that they can climb well, can sit comfortably on their 

 spreading tails, and are able to take short flights from one branch to another. 

 Before venturing into the world, however, the young woodpeckers hesitate 

 for some time at the entrance to their home. With head, neck and shoulders 

 protruding, they await the coming of their parent, and utter for the first time the 

 loud ' kewp ' which one so frequently hears when the young Green Wood- 

 peckers are spending their first days in the open. 



This call is so much louder and more insistent than the hoarse whisperings 

 of their youth, that one can only conjecture that it is instinctively developed 

 in order to acquaint the parent birds with the new position of the young ; for 

 since they are continually on the move from tree to tree she would otherwise 

 one imagines have considerable difficulty in locating them. 



When the young woodpeckers do eventually take the plunge into the 

 open, they seem to experience some difficulty in getting a firm foothold on 

 the bark of the tree which is, of course, very much smoother and harder than 

 the accustomed inside of the nesting-hole. First one of them, having reached 

 as far out as he possibly can without actually overbalancing, comes fluttering 

 out, and clings on to the surface of the bark with shaky legs, and then, as it 

 were, getting right side up, immediately commences the upward journey. 

 After a while he comes to a halt and utters his ringing monosyllabic cry 

 ' Kewp.' 



The rest of the family follow at shorter or longer periods ; although 

 owing to the fact that there is often considerable variety in size among the 

 members of a woodpecker family, the last may not leave until a few days after 

 the first. 



The young Green Woodpeckers differ somewhat, as regards their plumage, 

 from the mature birds ; they have a spotted breast and throat, instead of the 

 neater green of the old bird. Also their eyes are dark, and they lack the black, 

 or black and red cheek stripes. They are, however, exceedingly beautiful 

 birds. 



Having left the nest, the young woodpeckers are fed for some time by 

 their parents, but learn comparatively quickly to fend for themselves. The 

 principal foods of the Green Woodpecker are ants and ants' eggs, and of them 

 they consume millions. If one of the birds is seen to fly up from the ground, 

 a careful search amongst the grass at about the spot from which it rose will 

 generally reveal a quantity of small holes in the earth. These are made by 



