E. L. TURNER : WOODPECKER v. STARLING. 143 



forth, then sHpping inside she soon ejected the other, 

 but this was when her mate was near. The male 

 Woodpecker did not take his fair share of the fight 

 while I was watching, and often the hen bird would lean 

 half out of the nest {see Plate 4) and call to him in soft 

 complaining tones, but his answering cry generally came 

 from a long distance off, and she was left for hours to 

 continue the combat alone. 



The Starlings, on the contrary, worked well together 

 and sometimes a third came to their assistance. How- 

 ever, when once the Woodpecker gained possession of 

 her home the Starlings literally had not a " look in," 

 but sat disconsolately on a branch near at hand and 

 watched, by no means without protest, while the Wood- 

 pecker slowly and daintily threw out each twig until the 

 ground beneath the tree was strewn with debris. I wish 

 it had been possible to obtain photographs of this part 

 of the proceedings because the obvious enjoyment of the 

 Woodpecker as she did this was worth recording. After 

 watching every bit of rubbish till it reached the ground, 

 she looked up at the discomfited pair of Starlings 

 between each act and chuckled softly with her head on 

 one side, while the lookers-on gave vent to sundry 

 long-drawn-out screeches of disapproval. There was a 

 particularly large and dry laurel leaf which one Starling 

 had wrestled with and carried into the hole after great 

 struggles, because its stiffness and length impeded the 

 bird's flight. When this treasure was thrown out and 

 fell to the ground with a dry rattle, both Starlings 

 whistled so plaintively that I laughed aloud and 

 frightened the Woodpecker so that she fled. Then the 

 Starlings had another " innings," and for half an hour did 

 what they pleased and threw out a large quantity of the 

 wooden chips dear to the Woodpecker ; but at noon 

 the rightful owners again had full possession until 2.15, 

 when something disturbed them, and the enemy held 

 the citadel till 3 p.m., when I left, after seeing the Wood- 

 peckers once more reinstated. 



