340 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
take flight from a level piece of ground. It is for this reason 
that these birds have been gifted by nature with the instinct of 
making their nests on the slopes of mountains, for by running 
down-hill, and labouring hard with their wings, they can at last 
acquire momentum sufficient to raise themselves in the air. 
Once there they exhibit their true power, and are seen to the 
best advantage. 
THE GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER IN ENGLAND, 
By Rey. Cuement Ley. 
[In our review of ‘ Notes on the Birds of Herefordshire,’ collected by 
Dr. Bull, which appeared in ‘The Zoologist,’ 1888 (pp. 277—280), we noticed 
a statement to the effect that ‘‘ there could be no doubt of the Great Black 
Woodpecker having been observed on several occasions in Herefordshire,” 
and quoted (p. 279) the evidence on this subject adduced by the Rev, 
Clement Ley, of Ashley Parva, Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Mr. Ley 
having since published a long letter on the subject in the ‘ Hereford 
Times,’ intended as a reply to certain critics who seem to have imagined 
that there was some mistake in the identification of the birds seen by 
him, we reprint this letter for the benefit of our readers who may not 
have seen it, omitting only, for the sake of brevity, three paragraphs which 
are not material. ED. ] 
On the subject of my own observations of this bird in 
England, I have not for some time asked for space in the 
columns of the ‘Hereford Times.’ The causes of my silence 
have been partly that no re-statement of those observations would 
of itself add force or credibility to my first statement; partly 
because I have entertained the hope that some other naturalist 
would in course of time have been able to confirm my evidence by 
his own observations; and, after all, one single piece of positive 
evidence from any thoroughly capable and veracious observer will 
outweigh many pages of negative criticism. I was not anxious 
to appear in any hurry to reply to any hostile remarks. From 
the moment that I first heard the note of this bird in England, 
and still more from the time that I first saw the bird, I antici- 
pated even more general disbelief and more severe denunciations 
than my statements have in fact received. The man who has 
been so fortunate, or so unfortunate, as to see a prodigy not once, 
but twice, should either hold his peace or should expect to meet 
