62 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol.xv. 



alarm or warning note, too, which may have been caused by 

 the hut, a note very pleasant to the ear, but which I had 

 great trouble to get down to my satisfaction : sometimes 

 "cu-hee, cu-hee," at others "kithee, kithee." 



In each case we were near enough to the nests easily to 

 distinguish the cock from the hen by the markings. In 

 both species the cock was far more timid than the hen. 



From nests I have opened from time to time after the 

 young have flown, it seems that generally the nest is kept 

 in a very clean condition by the old birds, chiefly by the 

 female. The dung must be swallowed in the hole, as we 

 never saw a bird carry any away. On the other hand, many 

 times a bird stopped in the nest hole some minutes after 

 feeding, and we heard a regular " tap-tapping " inside. This 

 we put down to clearing away excreta that had broken the 

 sac. No chips were brought out afterwards. On the other 

 hand, the bird may have been getting new sawdust for the 

 bottom of the cup. Unfortunately, the Green Woodpecker's 

 nest was in a position that was too hopelessly dark for 

 photography. 



The Great Spotted Woodpeckers seemed to collect 

 nothing but insects, and we never saw them get any- 

 thing off the ground ; the number of small insects they 

 collected in a short time and held in the tip of the beak 

 was amazing ; very like the Pied Wagtail, but on a much 

 larger scale. The Green Woodpeckers' paste seemed to 

 consist largely of worms of various kinds, and certainly they 

 were often hunting on the ground during the nestling period. 

 Also they had signs of digging still on their beaks when they 

 came to the nest hole. 



I tried to discover whether the wind had any effect on the 

 direction taken to procure food, but could not find that it 

 was so. The Green Woodpeckers invariably came and left 

 in the same direction : the only direction where there was 

 not growing grain. The Great Spotted nests were both 

 in large woods, and the birds usually both went in the same 

 direction, but by no means always ; perhaps with them 

 there was a tendency to work the wood in different sections 

 day by day, but it was not well marked. J. H. Owen. 



BREEDING OF THE GREAT SPOTTED WOOD- 

 PECKER IN CUMBERLAND. 



In the Practical Handbook (Vol. II., p. 42) it is stated that 

 the Great Spotted Woodpecker [Dryohates major anglicus) 

 is " rare Westmorland and Cumberland." The following 



