WILD LIFE IN WINTER. 295 



The only indication they give of their proximity to 

 you is that scratching kind of soft tap when the bird's 

 claws come in contact with the bark. All sounds 

 are deadened in times of hard frost. Even the 

 powerful strokes from the yaffle's bill are muffled ; 

 you might fancy that gaily-coated drummer of the 

 woods was performing a muffled roll — a dirge for 

 the dying year. The spotted species work silently 

 at this season ; but when the new year is fairly on 

 in its course, their side -drum rattle will be heard 

 again. The holes in old trees give them a warm 

 shelter ; no winds can reach them there. They find 

 also an abundant supply of food, as a large portion 

 of insect-life in all stages is hidden in the crevices 

 and underneath the loosened bark. 



Besides haunting the tree-trunks and branches, the 

 woodpeckers and the nuthatches hunt about a great 

 deal in the thick belts of cover that encircle the 

 woods — too deep to be called hedge -growth, and 

 not enough to be styled copse. Here, where the 

 leaves have drifted thickly and the belts have a 

 southern aspect, the green woodpecker is generally 

 busy searching in the leaf-mould beneath for insects. 

 He soon clears a space for himself with his bill and 



