5 

 The flight of the Green Woodpecker is undulatmg 



and accompanied by loud whirring of the wings ; when 

 he taps at a tree he taps with all his might ; no insect- 

 food seems to come amiss to him, but he has a very 

 marked predilection for ants and their eggs, and his 

 actions at an ant-hill are most quaint and grotesque; 

 This bird is very wary, and those who wish for his 

 intimate acquaintance in his native haunts must be very 

 cautious in their advances. 



The five or six beautiful glossy white eggs of the 

 Green Woodpecker are laid in holes perforated by the 

 birds in more or less rotten trees, without any nest 

 whatever. The rapidity with which the Woodpeckers 

 work through sound wood till they find the decaying 

 heart of a trunk or bough is little short of miraculous ; 

 the masses of chips below a hole bear witness to the 

 labours of the birds, but not always to the occupation 

 of the particular site, for I have several times found 

 that the holes have been abandoned without any 

 apparent cause, even after the soft wood had been 

 reached. 



The young birds leave their nurseries before they can 

 fly, and clamber about the boughs of its neighbourhood, 

 generally returning to their hole for the night. Star- 

 lings frequently take possession of the Woodpeckers' 

 labours, and, by placing their nesting-rubbish in the 

 holes, disgust the rightful owners, who could certainly 

 master the intruders in a fair fight. In captivity the 

 Green Woodpecker becomes very tame and is most 

 amusing, but requires plenty of room for exercise, as 

 much variety of food as possible, and a constant supply 



