52 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



spots in the borough where this species habitually 

 nests, the favourite haunts being the more ex- 

 tensive grounds where the timber is well matured 

 and adjoins open lawns and the like. Of Swallows 

 and House Martins we have a goodly number 

 within the town limits ; in fact, these birds may 

 be said to be fairly distributed over the entire 

 district, the latter birds breeding not only under 

 eaves and in corners of windows and so on, but 

 on the cliffs. Even such a shy and retiring 

 species as the Green Woodpecker finds a sanctuary 

 amidst the trees of Torquay. Whether the bird 

 absolutely breeds within the borough we are not 

 prepared to say, but as a visitor to the various 

 wooded grounds it is by no means uncommon, 

 and its loud exclamatory note of hi-hi-hi is heard 

 with sufficient frequency to render it familiar. 

 Incidentally we may mention that there is a fine 

 specimen of this Woodpecker in the Torquay 

 Museum which killed itself by flying through a 

 window of one of the houses in Torquay, some 

 thirty years ago. All Woodpeckers, of course, are 

 far more often heard than seen, but we may fairly 

 say, so far as our experience extends, the Green 

 Woodpecker courts concealment less in this imme- 



