248 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



as follows ; " January, ants ; February, worms and 

 grubs of ants ; March, slugs, beetles and grubs of 

 ants ; April, ants and worms ; May, red ants and 

 grubs of wasps ; June, bees and ants ; July, red 

 ants ; August, red ants and worms ; September, ants 

 and worms ; October, grubs of ants ; November, 

 grubs of ants and bees ; December, ants." This 

 bird seems occasionally to vary its food, as oats and 

 the remains of acorns have been found in its 

 stomach. * 



The eggs of the Green Woodpecker this 

 species is said to make no nest are always 

 placed in a hole in a tree, which the bird excavates 

 either partly or entirely for itself: on this account it 

 has often been accused of doing much mischief to 

 trees, but this accusation appears to be wrong, as the 

 tree chosen is always one the interior of which is al- 

 ready more or less decayed, although it may show 

 no signs of this outwardly. Mr. Hewitson, in his 

 " Notes on the Ornithology of Norway," published 

 in the 'Magazine of Zoology and Botany,' says, 

 " Of the Green Woodpecker we saw several near one 

 of the churches, in the steeple of which (being of 

 wood) they had bored several holes in which to de- 

 posit their eggs." So it appears that it is not to 

 living wood only that the Green Woodpecker resorts 

 for nesting purposes. Yarrell says he has known 



* ' Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9468. 



