TRUNK-CLIMBING BIRDS. 



GREEN WOODPECKER.— Plate 64. 12 inches. 

 Upper parts green ; rump yellow ; crown crimson ; 

 face black, with crimson moustaches, edged with 

 black ; massive dark bill ; under parts whitish, tinged 

 with yellow or green. Resident. 



Eggs. — 5—7, tapering slightly at one end, glossy- 

 white ; 1-3 X -88 inch (plate 127). 



Nest. — A hole bored in a tree-trunk or in a leading 

 branch, and shaped like a retort, the eggs being de- 

 posited in the chip-lined, bulb-shaped chamber within. 



Distribution. — Wooded parts of England, but rare 

 north of Lancashire and Yorkshire ; west Cornwall ; 

 Wales ; not Scotland or Ireland. 



There is no mistaking this great green bird if only 

 it can be seen ; the difficulty is to catch sight of it. 

 Nesting in a hole excavated in the trunk of a tree — 

 generally a decaying one — the bird is to be sought in 

 well-timbered country. If seen in a tree, it will 

 probably be as it peeps round from the farther side 

 of a trunk or some leading branch to which it is 

 clinging. When searching the bark for insect-life 

 secreted in the cracks and crevices, it runs with 

 ease upon the vertical surface, a,nd usually, upon 

 reaching the portion where the branches begin, drops 

 with a dipping flight to the base 'of a neighbouring 

 tree. It may be well seen, too, as it flies along 

 some glade or grove, or from one tree to another in 

 open park -land. The best view, however, is when 



