DENIZENS OF A BEECH GROVE 81 



the woodpecker's beak in his efforts to seek out the ants ; which by the way- 

 he withdraws on the tip of the extensile tongue with which all woodpeckers 

 are provided. 



Such an extensile tongue may be protruded at will, and has at its tip a 

 series of tiny barbs, together with a glutinous substance, which is secreted in 

 glands at the sides of the woodpecker's jaws. 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker — ^which often nests quite low down, and 

 is comparatively common in certain districts, resembles his larger relation in 

 many respects. 



But there is one characteristic of this tiny bird in which it seems to differ 

 from the Green Woodpecker, and that is in its habit of producing, in the early 

 spring, a drumming or jarring noise. I have on several occasions been attracted 

 by this extraordinary sound, and by careful stalking have eventually reached a 

 spot from which a view of the cause of it could be obtained ; and on almost 

 every occasion have found it to be a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I have on 

 very rare occasions discovered a Greater Spotted Woodpecker to be the cause, 

 but it is almost invariably the Lesser. 



The rapidity with which the ' Lesser Spot ' strikes the selected piece of 

 wood is almost incredible. One can accurately imitate the sound thus produced 

 with an ordinary electric bell. — only a cigar box should be substituted for the 

 bell. 



The sound is a caU-note, and the woodpecker carefully tests the quality 

 of various dead branches before selecting the one which, on being struck, emits 

 the greatest resonance. 



The actual call of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a rapidly-repeated 

 'che-chee-chee,' a call very similar to the mating call of the Nuthatch, which 

 latter bird also loves to make his home in the hole or crevice of a beech tree. 



And although the Nuthatch, does not possess the stiff tail of the woodpecker, 

 he is perfectly at home on the smooth bark of a beech, and is able to climb up or 

 down, or sideways, or even upside down, without the least inconvenience. He 

 is very little larger than a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and the entrance to his 

 nesting-hole is almost identical in size with that of his pied relative. 



It is very differently constructed, however, for in the first place, a Nuthatch 

 does not excavate its own home, nor does it lay its eggs on the chips of wood 

 at the bottom of the hole. What it does is to select a suitable nesting-hole, 

 the entrance to which it closes in with mud so that there is ultimately only 

 sufiicient room for the bird to pass in and out. I have watched a pair of 

 nuthatches thus closing up the selected hole, and have noticed that they bring 

 the clay in the form of a httle ball which is carried on the tip of the beak ; this 

 they carefully poke into position, and go off in search of a further supply. On 

 one occasion whilst I was watching this process of ' mudding up,' I noticed 

 that the hen Nuthatch was doing all the work, the male bird contenting him- 



