xcv. 



PICUS VIRIDIS. (Linn.) 

 Green Woodpecker. 



The Green Woodpecker very soon discovers its neigh- 

 bourhood, by its loud and very singular cry ; this is the more 

 remarkable in rainy weather. The loud, joyous, laugliing 

 note, which it then utters, has often reconciled me to a wet 

 jacket. It builds its nest in the trunks of trees, frequently at 

 a considerable height above the ground. In Norway, where 

 the churches are chiefly of wood, we observed a Green Wood- 

 pecker, which had chosen for its nest the elevated situation 

 of the spire, in the side of which it had, most irreverently, 

 bored its hole. 



The hole of entrance is frequent!}- so small, tliat the eggs 

 are accessible only after the long and laborious use of the axe. 

 They are four or five in number, and are laid upon the fine 

 particles of the rotten wood, which remain at the bottom of 

 the hole ; they are of a pure white, and so glossy that they 

 have the appearance of having been varnished. The Green 

 Woodpecker begins to sit early in May. Fig. 2. 



PICUS MAJOR. (Linn.) 

 Great Spotted Woodpecker. 



The Great Spotted Woodpecker is surely either a rare bird 

 in this countr}', or one which most effectually evades the 



D 



