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found the Green Woodpecker in great numbers at Trebizond, and states that he has shot them 

 as high as Gumushkhaugh, which is between Erzeroom and Trebizond. Its further range to 

 the eastward has yet to be discovered; but we may mention that it was not met with by De 

 Filippi during his journey in Persia. 



One of the best accounts of the habits that we have met with is given by Mr. Sterland in 

 the ' Birds of Sherwood Forest,' as follows : — 



" The Woodpeckers are peculiarly inhabitants of the forest ; and that handsome species the 

 Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) is very abundant, our old decaying oaks being a favourite 

 resort, and furnishing them with an ample supply of food. The light, sandy forest-soil is greatly 

 frequented by ants ; and here you are sure to meet with the Green Woodpecker. It is a shy 

 species, and its white eye wears a peculiarly wild expression, while its singular cry, heard in the 

 depth of the woods, has something very unearthly and startling about it. It is generally uttered 

 while it is on the wing, making its odd, festooning flight from tree to tree — but not invariably so, 

 as I have heard it both when clinging to a tree and when on the ground. The latter situation is 

 only frequented where there are ant-hills, when it willingly leaves its strongholds the trees, to 

 search for its favourite food. 



" Its motions on the trees, for which it is so admirably fitted, are well worth watching. I 

 never saw it by any chance perch on the upperside of a bough ; but it is fond of clinging to the 

 underside, where, during the day, insects chiefly congregate. It is on the perpendicular trunk, 

 however, that it is most at home. Commencing at the base, it pursues a spiral course to the top, 

 prying into every chink and crevice, tapping here and there with vigorous and rapid strokes to 

 alarm its insect prey. I have remarked previously that nearly all the old oaks in the forest have 

 suffered the loss of their tops by the agency of wind and lightening, aided by natural decay. 

 Sometimes you may see the upper portion of one of these venerable trunks quite denuded of its 

 bark, and riven with many fissures, though the tree is all the while in vigorous growth. On 

 some of these I have often noticed the Green Woodpecker practise a singular feat. Placing its 

 bill in one of the long cracks I have mentioned, it produces, by an exceedingly rapid vibratory 

 motion, a loud crashing noise, as if the tree were violently rent from top to bottom. I have 

 heard it when the sound was so loud and sudden that the woods rang again. For a long time I 

 was at a loss to know how it was produced ; but I one day witnessed the process, and have seen it 

 several times since. It would effectually rouse up all the insects ; for it seemed as if the tree 

 quivered from top to bottom. Montagu mentions the jarring sound made by this species, but 

 imagines it to be the call of both sexes to each other. With this I do not agree, but think from 

 frequent observation that it is produced in the way I have mentioned, for the purpose of pro- 

 curing food. 



" The hole in which the eggs are laid is generally with us hewn through the sound outer 

 portion of the trunk, until, at a few inches depth, the decaying w r ood is reached, in which the 

 hollow for the eggs is formed ; for nest there is none. I have met with one or two holes where 

 the bird has evidently erred in its calculations. One in particular was about fifty feet from the 

 ground, and had been begun in a tree too sound for the purpose ; the hole was chiselled out of 

 the solid wood, and must have cost its maker great labour, having been driven forward in a 

 horizontal direction for about nine inches ; but the wood continuing sound the bird had appa- 



