FOR NORTHERN INDIA 28 



now begins nesting operations is the yellow- 

 fronted pied woodpecker (Liopicus mahrat- 

 ttnsis)-*a species only a little less common 

 than the beautiful golden-backed woodpecker. 

 Like all the Picidae this bird nests in the trunk 

 or a branch of a tree. Selecting a part of a 

 tree which is decayed sometimes a portion 

 of the bole quite close to the ground the 

 woodpecker hews out with its chisel-like beak 

 a neat circular tunnel leading to the cavity in 

 the decayed wood in which the eggs will be 

 deposited. The tap, tap, tap of the bill as it 

 cuts into the wood serves to guide the observer 

 to the spot where the woodpecker, with legs 

 apart and tail adpressed to the tree, is at work. 

 In the same way a barbet's nest, while under 

 construction, may be located with ease. A 

 woodpecker when excavating its nest will often 

 allow a human being to approach sufficiently 

 close to witness it throw over its shoulder the 

 chips of wood it has cut away with its bill. 



In the United Provinces many of the ashy- 

 crowned finch-larks (Pyrrhulauda grisea) build 

 their nests during February. In the Punjab 

 they breed later ; April and May being the 

 months in which their eggs are most often 

 found in that province. These curious squat- 



