WOODPECKERS. 



557 



notes only serve to show that these habits are like those of other woodpeckers 

 of temperate climates. Thus Mr. Ayres writes of the golden-tailed woodpecker 

 (Campothera chrysura) : " These woodpeckers are to be observed throughout Natal, 

 wherever there is bush-land, singly or in pairs ; their note is loud and harsh ; they 

 are very restless in their habits, constantly hunting for food as if they had never 

 obtained a sufficiency. Ants and other insects appear to be their usual food, which 



GREY-HEADED AND WHITE-BACKED WOODPECKERS (5 liat. Size). 



they search for and catch on the rough bark of trees. They also hammer away at 

 dead boughs, from which they extract soft grubs, etc. ; and their flight is heavy and 

 dipping. This woodpecker makes a hole, for the purposes of incubation, in the 

 trunk of a decayed tree, just large enough at the opening for the bird to enter, 

 but becoming wider inside and reaching downwards to the depth of a foot or 

 eighteen inches; it lays its eggs on the bare wood, without making any nest.'' 



Several allied genera present no particular features. Such are Chrysoptilus 

 of South America, with eight species; Chri/xof/degma of India. Burma, and the 



