9 



the whole of his arm into the cavity. To my intense delight he proclaimed that there were eggs 

 at the bottom. I immediately ascended, in order to see them in situ ; but that was impossible 

 without further enlarging the hole, for which my fingers were not strong enough. The party 

 below in the interval had rigged up a long pole with a cap attached to the end of it, in which 

 I deposited the eggs, and then slipped down in time to receive them once more into my hands. 

 They were five in number, one much fresher than the others, which were partially incubated, 

 though on blowing them it was found that no feathers had been formed. In their smooth ivory 

 texture these eggs very much resemble the well-known eggs of Picus viridis. The fresher one 

 was of a glossy white, and sufficiently transparent to show the colour of the yelk ; the others 

 were slightly wood-stained, and presented a duller appearance, owing to their having been incu- 

 bated. When blown, this difference is removed; but the wood-stains of course remain, and 

 somewhat detract from their beauty. In shape they resemble eggs of P. viridis, and are not so 

 much larger as I expected would be the case. 



"The hole was of this year's making. However, the bird is not in the habit of always 

 making a fresh hole, as I afterwards found out. Of the three inhabited nests discovered, two 

 were new and one old. Our woodman had a theory that the Spilkraka occupies its ' Bo ' during 

 two successive years if not disturbed ; and he thought that this identical pair were a young couple 

 that had just set up for themselves. Chips, some of them half an inch in length, lay plentifully 

 at the foot of the tree, giving the ground the appearance of the floor of a carpenter's workshop. 

 I was engaged in securing some of these as specimens of the Spilkraka's workmanship, when a 

 loud trumpeting sound was heard in the distance, announcing that a fresh excitement was in 

 store for us. This was caused by a pair of Cranes, who presently came within sight, flying low 

 across the opening, and right down upon our position. All our party crouched, and my com- 

 panion was in great hopes of bagging the brace, which he would have done but for a slight noise 

 that caused the birds to swerve towards the left, where they disappeared in the direction of the 

 marsh. We were following the line they had taken, but had not gone a hundred yards from the 

 birch-tree, when the male Black Woodpecker, in his anxiety to see what had happened, flew 

 upon it, and, after making two or three spirals round the trunk, slipped into the hole. Unluckily 

 for him he came out again, and clung to the broken edge, in which position my companion, to 

 my intense annoyance, fired at and brought him down. However, as there was no hope for it, I 

 took the bird and had it skinned. We continued to follow the line of the Cranes until we 

 arrived at the edge of the marsh ; but nobody was willing to accompany me further, and I thought 

 it unadvisable to proceed alone, as the very first plunge took me up to the waist. 



" We afterwards searched another part of the country in a different direction, where the 

 forest was of a more varied character, one especial feature being the existence of occasional 

 groups of ancient oaks, which stand somewhat after the fashion of ornamental timber in a park. 

 They have been left when the rest of the wood was cleared away, and are apparently doomed to 

 be the last of their race, as no young trees of the same species are growing up to succeed them. 

 These oak-groves are full of Starlings, Jackdaws, and Stockdoves; besides which the Green 

 Woodpecker, Boiler, Creeper, and Nuthatch were also noticed. The Harfogel (Upupa ejpops) 

 and the GSrktyta (Yunx torquilla) also occur, and are said to breed in these places regularly. 

 Some of the oak-groves are remarkably pretty spots, always refreshing to the eye wearied with 



