112 THE BIRDS OF DEVOX. 



a strange vibrating sound by inserting its beak into the crack of a limb 

 of some large tree ; this it does chietly in the spring and autumn, and 

 then, by a quick tremulous motion of the head, a sound is produced as if 

 the tree was splitting, and this is said so to alarm the insects that they 

 hasten out from their crevices and become an easy prey. 



It is much more common in the Midland and Northern Counties than, 

 it is with us in the AVest, and has been noticed to be a regular migrant, 

 arriving annually on our N.E. coasts about the same time as the Wood- 

 cock. It is seldom seen on the ground like the Green Woodpecker. 



Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocojms minor 



(Linn.). 



Picsideut, and not uncommon in woods in some localities. Breeds. 



This species appears more ])lentifiil in spring and autumn than at any 

 other time, according to Mr. Gatcombe (Zool. IbTo, p. 4404) ; but in our 

 experience and that of Mr. Bolitho, of Plymouth, it is most frequently 

 obtained in the months of January, February, and March, chiefly because 

 the trees are then destitute of foliage. Owing to its small size and its 

 habit of concealing itself behind the branches of trees it is easil}' over- 

 looked. It is, however, often observed on elm trees in gardens in Exeter, 

 Topsliam, Teignmouth, Plymouth, Seatou, Barnstaple, &c. It is rare at 

 Xingsbridge (P. P. N.). Dr. W. P. Scott found the nest in an old apple- 

 tree near Exeter in. 1847 (Zool. 1849, p. 2384). A pair used to breed 

 in an old walnut-tree at Aljjhington, near Exeter. This Woodpecker 

 breeds in woods at the side of the Tamar (J. G., Zool. 1877, p. 494). 



We have fouiid this small species to be far from uncommon in the 

 wooded districts of Devon and Somerset ; in the moorland county of 

 Cornwall it is, as might be expected, very rare. In Xorth Devon we 

 have often met with it in woods and parks ; also on old rails and gate- 

 posts, and have observed it to be very common by the banks of tlic Taw 

 below Mr. C. Chichester's beautiful seat, Hall ; and can bear out Mr. E. 

 H. Podd's description of its call-note, which he aptly compares with the 

 roosting-cry of the Blackbird. Like the Great Spotted Woodpecker it is 

 fond of fruit, and will go some distance to visit gardens. One summer a 

 brood paid such persistent visits to the garden of a friend of ours at 

 Instow, a small watering-place situated among sandhills, with no wood-, 

 lauds immediately near, that three of them had to be shot before the rest 

 could be driven away from their attacks on the raspberries and currants. 

 "We have watched a fine male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker while perform- 

 ing with its beak upon a branch of an old wych-elm in our grounds, and 

 felt astonishment that so small a bird could produce such an extra- 

 ordinary noise. AVe have followed one to a large tree, waiting for it to 

 show itself upon the trunk ; but the bird has kept itself concealed in the 

 upper branches, which it mostly affects, and its nest is generally placed 

 high up, a hole in a poplar tree being a favourite site. 



