176 My Favourite Summer- Houses. 



The Duke of Argyll in Nature, May 29, 1890, gave 

 the following account of observations of the lesser 

 spotted woodpecker : 



" I have had an opportunity lately of observing 

 closely the habits of the lesser spotted woodpecker 

 (Picus minor), as regards the very peculiar sound 

 which it makes upon trees by the action of its bill. 



" It is quite certain that this habit has nothing 

 whatever to do with the quest for food. The bird 

 selects one particular spot upon the trunk or bough of 

 a tree, which spot is naturally sonorous from the wood 

 being more or less hollowed by decay. The bird 

 returns to this precise spot continually during the day, 

 and produces the sound by striking the wood on the 

 spot with its bill, the stroke being repeated with a 

 rapidity which is really incomprehensible, for it quite 

 eludes the eye. It is effected by a vibratory motion 

 of the head; but the vibrations are so quick that the 

 action looks like a single stroke. After short pauses 

 this stroke is again and again renewed, sometimes for 

 several minutes together. During each interval the 

 woodpecker looks round it and below it with evident 

 delight, and with an apparent challenge of admiration. 

 The beautiful crimson crest is more or less erected. 



"The whole performance evidently takes the place 

 of the vernal song in other birds ; and so far as I 

 know, it is the only case among the feathered tribes 

 in which vocal is replaced by instrumental music. 

 The nest does not appear to be in the same tree ; but 

 similar spots are selected on several trees in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and as the sound is very loud, and is heard 

 a long way off, the hen bird when sitting is serenaded 

 from different directions. I have not seen or heard 

 any attempt to vary the note produced by variations 



