THE GREEN WOODPECKER. 



the stunted pine, he flew away to the next 

 clump, we caught the glint of his wings and 

 the red cap on his head in motion through 

 the air with extraordinary distinctness. 



The yaffle, as we call our red-headed 

 friend in these parts, is one of the largest 

 and handsomest of our woodland wild birds. 

 About a foot in length, by the actual 

 measurement, "from the end of his beak to 

 the tip of his tail," he hardly impresses one 

 at first sight with a sense of his full size, 

 because of his extreme concinnity and neat- 

 ness of plumage. A practical bird, he is 

 built rather for use than for vain gaudy 

 display ; for, though his colour is fine, and 

 evidently produced by many ages of aesthetic 

 selection, he yet sedulously avoids all crests 

 and top-knots, all bunches and bundles of 

 decorative feathers protruding from his body, 

 which would interfere with his solid and 

 business-like pursuit of wood - burrowing 

 insects. How well-built and how cunningly 

 evolved he is, after all, for his special purpose ! 

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