aS British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



preceding species, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is, in some of the southern 

 counties of England, a much commoner bird, but north of Yorkshire it is very 

 rare and local ; whilst both in Scotland and Ireland it is extremely scarce. 



This bird nearl}' resembles its larger relative in general colouring ; but is 

 considerably smaller ; the male has the crown of the head (not the nape) crimson, 

 the nape and a moustachial streak black ; the cheeks and ear-coverts dull white, 

 continuous with the white on the neck ; the innermost secondaries, lower back, 

 and rump are transversely barred with white ; the under parts are white streaked 

 on the flanks (and sometimes on the breast) with brown, and there is no crimson 

 on the vent or under tail-coverts. The bill and feet are dark slate-grey, the 

 iris reddish-brown. The female has the crown white, and the under parts more 

 streaked than in the male. The young are very like the adult birds, but in the 

 female the front of the crown is crimson. 



The habits of this species are very similar to those of its larger relative, and 

 its haunts are much the same. Being very shy and having a preference for elms, 

 poplars, and other tall trees, it is frequently overlooked, more especially as it 

 chiefly confines its attention to the highest branches, very rarely descending to the 

 earth for food, at any rate when men are about. It is extremely pugnacious, and 

 attacks others of its own species as well as Nuthatches, Creepers, and Tits when- 

 ever they approach its favourite hunting-grounds. It usually begins to breed 

 towards the end of April, excavating its nesting-hole in the rotten branch of some 

 lofty elm, poplar, birch, willow, alder, or fruit-tree, generally at a considerable 

 height above the earth. The eggs number from five to eight, of a pure glossy 

 white colour, and are deposited on the few chips or even the bare wood at the 

 bottom of the excavation. The young return to the nesting-hole long after they 

 are able to feed themselves. Nidification sometimes takes place as late as July, 

 but whether owing to the destruction of an earlier brood or not, it would be 

 difiicult to prove. (Vide Lilford, " Birds of Northamptonshire.") 



Mr. W. Ruskin Butterfield, writing from St. Leonards-on-sea, observes : — " It 

 has been denied that the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker hollows its own nest-hole ; 

 but that the birds are able to do this I can testify from having witnessed the 

 operation." 



Furthermore he adds: — "The idea that the Green, or any British Woodpecker 

 carries away the chips, so as not to betray the whereabouts of the nest will not 

 be entertained by anyone who has been a birds-nester." This accords perfectly 

 with what Lord Lilford says in his account of the Green Woodpecker, and as he 

 notes that the preparation of the nesting-places is carried on in the same way by 

 all the British Woodpeckers, we may infer that none of them tidy up their litter. 



