THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 



553 



branch between themselves and the supposed enemy, and will not show themselves until 

 they think that the danger has passed away. 



Presently the Woodpecker may be seen coming very cautiously round the tree, 

 peering here and there, to assure itself that the coast is clear, and then, after a few 

 preliminary taps, will set vigorously to work. So rapidly do the blows follow each other, 

 that the head of the bird seems to be vibrating on a spring, and the sound can only be 

 described by the comparison already made, namely, a watchman's rattle. Chips and bark 

 fly in every direction, and should 

 the tree be an old one, whole 

 heaps of bark will be discovered 

 at the foot. By the aid of a small 

 telescope, the tongue can be seen 

 darted out occasionally, but the 

 movement is so quick, that unless 

 the attention of the observer be 

 especially directed towards it, he 

 will fail to notice it. 



The Woodpecker has several 

 modes of tapping the trees, which 

 can be readily distinguished by a 

 practised ear. First there is the 

 preliminary tap and the rapid 

 whirring strokes already described, 

 when the bird is engaged in seek- 

 ing its food. Then there is a 

 curious kind of sound made by 

 pushing its beak into a crack, and 

 rattling it in such a manner 

 against the wood, that the insects 

 think their house is falling, and 

 run out to escape the impending 

 danger, just as worms come to 

 the surface when the ground is 

 agitated by a spade or fork. 

 Lastly, there is a kind of drum- 

 ming sound made by striking the 

 bill against some hollow tree, and 

 used together with the peculiar 

 cry for the purpose of calling its 

 mate. 



Although the Woodpeckers 

 were formerly much persecuted, 

 under the idea that they killed the 

 trees bypeckingholesin them, they 

 are most useful birds, cutting away 

 the decaying wood, as a surgeon 

 removes a gangrened spot, and 

 eating the hosts of insects which 

 encamp in dead or dying wood, 



and w^ould soon bring the whole tree to the ground. Tliey do not confine themselves to 

 trees, but seek their food wherever they can find it, searching old posts and rails, and 

 especially delighting in those trees that are much infested with the green fly, or aphis, 

 as the wood-ants swarm in such trees for the purpose of obtaining the " honey-dew," as it 

 distils from the aphides, and then the Woodpeckers eat the ants. Those destructive 

 creatures generally called wood-lice, and known to boys as " monkey-peas," are a favourite 

 article of diet with the Woodpeckers, to whom our best thanks are therefore due. 



GREAT SroTTED WOODt'EJKER.— Picus major. 



