342 



THE NATURE BOOK 



YOUNG GREEN WOODPECKER (THREE WEEKS OLD). 



migrant, and is seldom heard before leafy 

 June has arrived, and the Cockchafers 

 are enjoying their drowsy flights. 



The Green Woodpecker may be classed 

 with the Nightjar as being more often 

 heard than seen ; its loud and resonant 

 laugh or " yaffle " is frequently uttered 

 in spring and autumn. Like the King- 

 fisher, it is a popular item with taxidermists. 

 Its bright scarlet hood and moustache 

 stripe, black cheeks, white iris, and ohve 

 green back, with pale yellow rump and 

 pointed tail feathers, make it an attrac- 

 tive bird for a glass case. But the same 

 yellow-green back is probably, where 

 the balance of Nature is uninterrupted 

 by man, a protective tint which assimilates 

 with the greenery of its natural haunts. 

 In autumn these birds may frequently 

 be noticed on the ground, where they 

 both walk and hop in search of ant-hills. 

 When prying into the cracks and crevices 

 of the bark of trees they progress spirally 

 by a series of jerks or clul)-footed jumjjs : 

 both feet and tail are specially developed 

 to assist them in these pecuhar movements. 



The " Woodpecker tapping at the 

 hollow beech tree " is poetically 

 proverbial, but hollow beeches 

 are rare, and the woodland 

 tapping sounds are frequently 

 caused by the Great Tit. Truly 

 marvellous is the power which 

 the latter small bird is able to 

 put forth in this respect, and 

 surprising is the noise which re- 

 sults from so tiny a beak ham- 

 mering upon a tree trunk in the 

 silence of a still winter's day. 



The flight of the Woodpecker 

 is strong and buoyant, though 

 it consists of a series of curves. 

 The nest is made in the bole or 

 large branch of a tree, and is 

 excavated by the bird itself and 

 frequently resorted to year after 

 3'ear. The somewhat pyriform 

 and glossy white-shelled eggs are 

 deposited upon chips of the 

 wood, without any further at- 

 tempt at nest-making. 



Our second most common 

 Scansorial, or climbing bird, is 

 the ^^'ryneck, or Cuckoo's Mate, 

 so called because it and the 

 Cuckoo both arrive here at about 

 the same time in early spring ; both 

 Woodpecker and Wryneck have a pecuhar 

 foot formation to assist them in their 

 special manner of securing a livelihood, for 

 two toes point forward and two backward. 

 The Wryneck is a much smaller and not 

 nearly so strongly made a bird as the 

 Green Woodpecker ; the latter is just 

 over a foot in length, whilst the former 

 only measures a little more than six 

 inches. In locality of nest and colour 

 of eggs they are similar, but the com- 

 parati\e weakness of the beak of the 

 Wryneck disables it from hewing its own 

 nesting hole. In plumage the Wryneck 

 somewhat reminds one of the Nightjar, 

 but it lacks the white wing and tail spots. 

 Like the Nightjar, too, it is more often 

 heard than seen, its " pay, pay, pay " 

 being very penetrating, but its other- 

 wise secretive habits and inconspicuous , 

 })lumage render it difficult of observation. 

 The Tree Creeper, still smaller than 

 the Wryneck, is also a regular denizen 

 of the woods, but it resides with us 

 throughout the year. It is a little, dull 



