LUXURIOUS OBSERVATIONS 217 



domestic economy of two pairs of these birds as 

 closely as, in such a species, it well can be watched. 

 The glasses, turned full upon the hole, I fixed on a 

 little stick platform, just on a level with my eyes, as 

 I sat. Thus no time was lost in getting them to 

 bear, but the instant one of the birds flew in, I had 

 it, as it were, almost upon the platform in front of 

 me. In this luxurious manner I have seen scores 

 and scores of visits made to the nest, but never once, 

 before the bird made its entry, through the hole, have 

 I been able to detect anything held by it in the 

 beak, which was always fast closed. Had anything 

 in the shape of an insect projected from it, I must 

 certainly have seen it, but this was never the case, 

 and I can, therefore, say with confidence, that the 

 green woodpecker does not feed its young by bringing 

 them insects in its bill, as does the lesser spotted, 

 and, no doubt, the greater spotted one also all the 

 woodpeckers, probably, that have not changed their 

 habits, in relation to their food and manner of feeding. 

 I am the more sure of this, because, as the little 

 woodpecker collected a number of insects, each 

 time, there can be little doubt that the green one 

 would do this, likewise, were he accustomed to feed 

 the young in the same way. How, then, does he 

 feed them ? I give the answer from my notes. 



"At 12.10 the male woodpecker flies to the hole, 

 and, almost immediately, enters. In a few minutes 

 he looks out, cautiously, turning his head from side 

 to side. I can make out nothing in the bill, but I 

 notice that he works the mandibles, just a very little. 

 Then he draws in his head, but projecting it, again, 

 almost immediately, something is now evident, 



