British Woodpeckers. 323 



perforated in all directions by the larvas of a small beetle 

 \Ptinus pectinicornis) . The remainder of the cage was com- 

 posed of wire, through which it tried to escape, but finding 

 it impracticable, commenced beating in quick time at various 

 parts of the woodwork with its beak. About ten minutes 

 after leaving the room in which the cage was, I was called by 

 the servant, who said that the bird had escaped and flown up 

 the chimney. It was with difficulty that I captured it, and on 

 taking down the cage I found to my surprise that in so short a 

 time it had bored a hole sufficiently large in the bottom of the 

 cage to allow of its escape. Whether it had pecked away the 

 wood in search of the beetles, or with the intention of escaping, 

 I cannot say. After fixing a stouter piece of wood over the 

 hole in the cage, I returned it, but it repeatedly succeeded in 

 ejecting its escape, when it would perch on the head of any one 

 present, and invariably commence an attack on the face and eyes. 

 I afterwards placed it in a cage, composed wholly of wire, and 

 provided it with wood, which, if suitable, was perforated in all 

 directions. It never became tame, but regularly attacked my 

 hand when I offered it food. The cat, too, kept at a con- 

 siderable distance from the cage, after having once received a 

 severe peck on the nose from the point of its powerful beak, 

 while looking for a space large enough for the introduction of 

 her foot. Its food consisted of insects, and during the winter 

 months, when these could not be procured, I found a good 

 substitute in uncooked meat, but fruit, nuts, or seeds of any 

 description were invariably rejected. It never attempted to 

 sit on the perches that were provided for it, but scrambled 

 round the sides of the cage by clinging to the wires after the 

 manner of parrots, with the exception that it never made use 

 of its bill to assist its movements. 



It is generally believed that these birds convey to a distance 

 from the place, the chippings which are made during the 

 excavation of the nest, which would, if allowed to remain at 

 the root of the tree, lead to the detection of the nest. A care- 

 ful observation of the habits of them, both in confinement and 

 in their native woods, has led me to the conclusion that this 

 is not their usual practice. When a piece of wood was given 

 to my caged bird, it at once proceeded to test its soundness, 

 by dealing in quick succession a series of hard, blows with the 

 point of its beak, on various parts of the surface. If it proved 

 to be perfectly sound, it was left untouched; but if at all decayed, 

 the bird would drill first a small hole with the point of its 

 beak, which it afterwards enlarged by pecking off minute pieces 

 from the circumference until it was as large as desired. While 

 engaged in this task it would stop at intervals, and climb 

 round the sides of its cage apparently for the sake of viewing 



