64 MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPEGKEB. 



fond of nuts, and -will carry them like a Tomtit into the fork of 

 some near tree, and crack them: it generally swallows the kernels 

 whole, and will eat acorns and beech nuts in the same way. Naumann 

 further tells us that it is a fruit-stealer, and will rob cherry trees, 

 not so much however for the fruit pulp as the kernels of the stones, 

 and that it will also split open fir-cones, and feed on the seeds when 

 it cannot get better food. It does not affect the neighbourhood of 

 water, is not often seen to drink, and still more rarely to bathe. Its 

 stomach is larger than that of the other Woodpeckers. 



It nests in woods, and sometimes in fruit gardens, which are over- 

 hung by woods of thick foliage. In the end of March or April 

 they repair to their breeding places, which are easily betrayed by 

 their restless habits and cries. Very soon (I am quoting Naumann) 

 the male is seen chasing his mate from tree to tree, and among the 

 boughs — or two males are observed having a battle royal — from which 

 they frequently fly to swing from the highest summit of the trees. They 

 now either call to their mates with a clear bright voice, or whirr 

 against their rival. Their nesting place is thus easy to discover, as 

 also the tree by the debris at the bottom, but the hole is generally 

 hid from view, and not so easily found-. It is not often less than twenty 

 feet from the ground, and very often as high as sixty feet. The 

 entrance hole is quite round, not larger than is actually necessary, 

 and appears from below so small that few people would believe it 

 belonged to this bird. It is widened inside in the form of a ball, 

 and extends downwards from the entrance seven to ten inches — seldom 

 more. 



The eggs are laid on fine wood shavings under the walls of the 

 very prettily-worked entrance hole. They are generally five or six 

 in number, sometimes seven. They resemble those of the Greater 

 Spotted, but are much smaller, oval in shape, tender shelled, and of 

 enamelled whiteness. They are hatched in fifteen days, male and 

 female sitting alternately, and the young, in Naumann's own words, 

 are "blind, ugly, helpless, thick-headed," having, like other young 

 Woodpeckers, a cartilaginous knob upon the corner of the beak. When 

 full fledged they fly round the tree in circles, until they gradually 

 separate into twos and threes. The old birds display great affection 

 for their young. 



Mr. Wheelwright describes the old male from freshly killed speci- 

 mens as follows :— Forehead grey; vertex and occiput carmine red. 

 Throat, sides of the head, and neck, white, with a black band which 

 commences at the gape, and gradually broadening, forms a triangular 

 spot on the side of the neck. Back of the neck, back, and rump 



