WOODPECKERS. 



557 



notes only serve to show that these habits are like those of other woodpeckers 

 of temperate climates. Thus Mr. Ayres writes of the golden-tailed woodpecker 

 ( ( 'am/pothi ra eh rysu ra) : " These woodpeckers are to be observed throughout Natal, 

 wherever there is bush-land, singly or in pairs; their note is loud and harsh; they 

 are very restless in their habits, constantly hunting for food as it' they had never 

 obtained a sufficiency. Ants and other insects appear to be their usual food, which 



GKEY-HEADED AND WHITE-BACKED WOODPECKERS (J Iiat. size). 



they search for and catch on the rough bark of trees. They also hammer away at 

 dead boughs, from which the} 7 extract soft grubs, etc. ; and their flight is heavy and 

 dipping. This woodpecker makes a hole, for the purposes of incubation, in the 

 trunk of a decayed tree, just large enough at the opening for the bird to enter, 

 but becoming wider inside and reaching downwards to the depth of a foot or 

 eighteen inches ; it lays its eggs on the bare wood, without making any nest." 



Several allied genera present no particular features. Such are Chrysoptilus 

 of South America, with eight species: Chrysophlegma of India, Burma, and the 



mm 



wiiaiiBtiHiwyw i 



tft 



