LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 361 



and grace. It is not often seen near the ground, and most of its labours 

 are carried on high up in the lofty branches ; but it is said sometimes to 

 search amongst the grass for food. In Norway, CoUett says that it 

 is often seen on wooden fences, from which the dead bark is easily 

 removed and the tempting store of insects and larvae exposed to view ; 

 and at such a time the bird will allow itself to be very closely approached. 

 Like the Tits and many other birds, the Lesser Spotted "Woodpecker seems 

 to have certain beats over which it passes periodically in search of food. 

 It roosts in a hole in a tree, retiring rather late to rest, and is said to 

 make this hole expressly for the purpose of sleeping in. But this may 

 not be exactly the case, and the nesting-hole is the one that serves for a 

 sleeping-apartment, or the bird will creep into any hole or crevice it can 

 find to pass the night. 



The note of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a not very loud kake or 

 kirk, uttered many times in rapid succession. In addition to this note, 

 which appears common to both sexes, the bird also makes a loud whirring 

 sound by rapidly tapping the branches or trunk with its bill. This peculiar 

 noise appears to be a call or signal between the sexes, and is most often 

 heard during the breeding-season. 



The food of this bird is composed principally of insects, which it finds 

 under and amongst the bark and on the branches and leaves. It does not 

 appear to eat ants or their eggs. It is often seen in gardens and orchards, 

 but it is not known to prey on the fruit or berries, as its larger congener 

 does. Like the preceding species, it is very fond of the larvae of the wood 

 leopard moth. 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker nests in holes in trees ; and though it 

 often begins excavations very early in the season, its eggs are not generally 

 deposited before the beginning or middle of May. Its hole is made in 

 many kinds of trees and at different heights from the ground. Sometimes 

 it chooses a dead stump or the stem of an apple- or a pear-tree, more 

 frequently high up in the branches of a poplar, a beech, or an elm. Some- 

 times it bores into a pollard willow by the stream or selects a pine or birch 

 tree for its purpose. The hole is bored by the industrious little miners for 

 a distance of a foot or more, sometimes only eight or nine inches. The 

 hole is round, gradually enlarges as it proceeds downwards, and at the 

 extremity widens out into a small hollow, where the eggs are laid. The 

 diameter of the passage to this chamber varies from about an inch and a 

 half to two inches. Sometimes several holes will be commenced and then 

 abandoned from various causes, as is often the case with the Kingfisher and 

 the Sand-Martin. The softest part of the tree is invariably chosen, and any 

 slight hole made by the weather is usually taken advantage of as a basis 

 of operations. It does not always excavate its own hole, and sometimes 

 uses one ready made. 



