62 



10 



entrance to the nest of P. medius, a few day's later, in the same direction. Is it the rule with 

 the Picidw to take the weather-side, as this side of the tree is generally the most rotten, and 

 therefore the easiest to work. About five feet above the nest-hole of our little Woodpecker was 

 another hole, perhaps the tenement of last year." Mr. Harting, in his ' Birds of Middlesex,' 

 says : — " A nest of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which I found one day in May, had two 

 entrances, from opposite sides of the tree ; the holes were as nearly as possible in a line, and led 

 to a larger cavity, from which the hen bird might escape on one side if assailed on the other." 



Much has been written about the note of this bird, which is variously described by orni- 

 thologists. Naumann's rendering we have given above ; and in Mr. Harting's ' Birds of Middlesex' 

 the note is stated by a friend of his to be " very like that of the Wryneck, but lower and more 

 musical." Again, Mr. Bodd writes to us : — " The note of this bird appeared to me to resemble 

 the high chucking note of the Blackbird preparatory to its going to roost." At certain seasons 

 it makes a loud vibratory noise, to which attention has been drawn by several writers in ' Loudon's 

 Magazine ; ' and their remarks will be found reproduced in Mr. Gould's ' Birds of Great Britain.' 

 Referring to these notices Macgillivray says, " The loud noise above described is supposed by 

 some to be an amatory performance, as it is heard only or chiefly in spring, while others con- 

 jecture it to be produced by a rapid tapping of the bill, for the purpose of disturbing insects that 

 are lodged in the bark. This latter opinion is more probable ; for in spring it besides emits its 

 ordinary notes so much more frequently and loudly than usual, that they may well pass for a 

 love-song." The late Mr. Briggs, of Cookham, was of opinion that this noise was employed as a 

 means of communication ; and the following observations were published by Sharpe in a little 

 paper on the birds of Cookham, as they were detailed to him by Mr. Briggs : — " The note of 

 the larger species can be heard a long distance ofl", and its voice is powerful ; but the present 

 bird has a very weak note indeed, though somewhat resembling the cry of P. major. The Lesser 

 Spotted Woodpecker is one of the earliest birds to pair ; and at the period of nidification they are 

 exceedingly busy, and constantly uttering their note. Now, as the tall poplar trees in which the 

 birds breed are at either end of a very large field, separated from each other by about three 

 hundred yards, the call-note of the bird would not penetrate a quarter of the distance. It often 

 happens that the two birds are at opposite sides of the field ; so, in order to call its mate, one of 

 them runs up to the topmost and thinnest branches of the tree, tapping vigorously all the while, 

 the tir-r-r becoming shriller as the bird ascends. In this manner he can call his mate ; for the 

 sound can be heard a very long way off; and he is answered in the same way by the bird from the 

 other side of the field." 



The eggs of the Woodpecker are deposited on the chips left in the bottom of the hole, which 

 is bored by the bird itself, and are generally five or six in number. They greatly resemble the 

 eggs of the Common Wryneck, and in a series would be extremely difficult to pick out, if indeed 

 they could be distinguished from these latter. Eggs in Dresser's collection, taken by himself in 

 Northern Finland, measure from %% by ■§■§• to f^ by f-Jy inch, and, like all Woodpecker's eggs, are 

 pure white in colour. Dr. E. Rey tells us that the average size of eleven undoubted eggs, taken 

 near Halle, is 18 - 75 by 14 - 4, the largest measuring 19 - 75 by 15-0, and the smallest 17 - 25 by 

 13-75 millimetres respectively. The late Mr. H. Wheelwright observes: — "I consider the egg 

 of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker a most difficult one to obtain well authenticated. They 



