THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER IN SCOTLAND. 89 
Squirrel from the more particular accusation as regards the 
Woodpecker. 
We have still to consider what causes have been at work in 
influencing the decrease of Woodpeckers in the North of Scotland. 
In England, I understand, one reason given for a decrease is the 
more frequent thinning out of decaying wood, and, generally, a 
higher system of Forestry. This may have had some operation 
also in the Inverness Forests, but if so I do not regard it as the 
sole cause, though it may perhaps have completed or hastened 
the decrease. Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, whom I have already 
quoted, makes mention of an extraordinary increase of Starlings, 
Jackdaws, and Sparrows, which species prior to 1851 were 
unknown at Guisachan. As nearly as can now be ascertained, 
1851 was also about the date when Woodpeckers began to 
decrease in numbers. Mr. F. Norgate, in his interesting article 
on the “Nesting of the Nuthatch in Norfolk,” * has pointed out 
what a very large percentage of the nest-holes of both Picus 
viridis and Picus major are occupied by Starlings, soon after they 
are made, observing that nearly ninety per cent. of the nesting- 
holes of the Great Spotted Woodpecker are thus taken possession 
of. I have for some time been collecting materials for an 
exhaustive account of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker in 
Scotland, but on reading Mr. Norgate’s article it occurred to me 
to forward these few notes for comparison with his, reserving for 
a future occasion a more exhaustive account of the species, 
should such be considered desirable. 
In conclusion, if many of the ancient birch and other trees 
occupied by the Woodpeckers have perished from age, thus 
restricting their breeding-haunts, and if a large number of those 
still standing are occupied by Starlings and Jackdaws, perhaps 
even by Sparrows, a case may actually be made out against the 
survival of the Woodpecker from direct causes. 
I am still collecting information on this subject, and shall 
be glad of further particulars from observers in any part of 
Scotland heretofore inhabited by Woodpeckers. 
* Vide antea, p. 41. 
