GREEN WOODPECKER. 1 87 



the tongue owing to the glutinous matter on the end 

 of it. This tongue, according to Meyer, is seven and 

 a half inches long from root to tip, and the bird is able 

 to project it six inches beyond the tip of the beak. 

 When " working " the trunk of a tree, Seebohm 

 compares its manner of progressing to that of a 

 gigantic fly on a window pane. 



The cry of the Green Woodpecker is a peculiar 

 " glu, glu, glu," rapidly repeated, bearing a strange 

 resemblance to a laugh. This laugh is said to be 

 frequently and loudly uttered before a coming shower, 

 hence it is known as the Rain-bird. 



Its food is composed chiefly of insects ; it also feeds 

 upon the larvas of wasps. It is extremely fond of 

 ants and their eggs, which it devours in great numbers. 



The general colour of the upper parts is olive green 

 shading into yellow on the rump, which latter colour 

 enables the bird to be easily distinguished, as it is very 

 conspicuous ; the general colour of the under parts is 

 pale green. The cheeks are marked with scarlet and 

 the crown and forehead feathers are grey, broadly 

 fringed with scarlet. 



The Green Woodpecker breeds in various trees, 

 either using an old hole or more frequently boring a 

 perfectly round one in the trunk until it reaches the 

 decayed part, when it works downwards for a foot or 

 so. The eggs are deposited on the decayed chips left 

 at the bottom. The hole is usually some distance 

 from the ground. Hewitson relates an instance 

 of a pair of these birds irreverently boring into 

 the wooden spire of a church in Norway. So rapidly 

 does the bird tap away with its beak when at work, 

 that the head can hardly be seen moving. Sometimes 

 the same hole is used year after year. 



