116 BIRDS' NESTS 



for a short distance, then the perpendicular shaft is 

 bored for a foot or more, at the bottom of which a 

 slightly enlarged chamber forms the receptacle for 

 the eggs. So beautifully bored are these Wood- 

 pecker nests that it is difficult to believe they are the 

 work of a bird and not the result of a carpenter's 

 gouge or similar sharp-edged tool. Both birds assist 

 in this wood-boring operation, male and female 

 working in turn until the hole is completed. It is 

 popularly believed that the chips and refuse are 

 carried away by the busy birds in order to prevent 

 discovery of their retreat, but such is not the case ; 

 and one of the most unerring signs of tenancy is the 

 heap of such borings which gradually accumulate on 

 the ground below. We should also state that the 

 entrance hole is only just large enough to admit the 

 owners, the aperture increasing in size as the bottom 

 is reached. The extraordinary power of the Wood- 

 pecker's bill, which is compressed and chisel-like, 

 enables the bird to excavate its dwelling with com- 

 parative ease. No further nest is made, the eggs 

 being laid on the powdered wood and chips at the 

 bottom of the hole, the birds evidently considering 

 that sufficient preparation has taken place in the 

 process of boring into the timber. Many of the larger 

 species bore into sound wood with ease, but our 

 British species, I believe, seldom or never attack any 

 but tainted timber — places where water has already 

 prepared a way through knot-holes, or old scars 



