8504 



Notices of New Books, 



drew near the bird quitted its perch, flew round me, coming within a 

 few feet of my person, and on my remaining still made itself heard 

 from another part of the railing only a few yards behind me. Again 

 and again I dodged it, but always with the same result. I saw it, 

 indeed, several times, but always on the wing." — (P. 289). 



" The Green Woodpecker. — Commonest among that of the natural 

 sounds of the country is that of the 



' Woodpecker tapping the hollow beech tree ; ' 



so at least many people suppose ; but, in reality, one may walk through 

 the woods many times and hear no tapping at all, and even if such a 

 sound be detected and traced to its origin it will more probably be 

 found to proceed from the nuthatch, who has wedged a hazel nut into 

 the bark of an oak, than from the hammering of a woodpecker. This 

 bird is far too wise to waste its time and blunt its beak by pecking at 

 wood hard enough to make much resonance. And indeed what motive 

 could it have for so doing ? Wood does not enter into its diet, nor 

 does sound wood contain the insects on which it feeds. Often indeed 

 it may be observed ascending by a series of starts the trunk of a tree, 

 inclining now a little to the right, and now to the left, disappearing 

 now and then on the side farthest from the spectator, and again coming 

 into view somewhat higher up. Nor is its beak idle ; this is employed 

 sometimes in dislodging the insects which lurk in the rugged bark, 

 and sometimes in tapping the trunk in order to find out whether the 

 wood beneath is sound or otherwise. Just as a carpenter sounds a 

 wall with his hammer in order to discover where the brickwork ends, 

 and where lath and plaster begin, so the woodpecker sounds the 

 wooden pillar to which it is clinging, in order to discover where the 

 wood is impenetrable alike by insects and itself, and where the former 

 have been beforehand with it in seeking food or shelter. Such a 

 canker-spot found, it halts in its course, tears off piecemeal a portion 

 of bark, and excavates the rotten wood beneath, either as far as the 

 fault extends or as long as it can find food. It is, then, by no means 

 a mischievous bird, but the reverse ; as it not only destroys a number 

 of noxious insects, but points out to the woodman, if he would only 

 observe aright, which trees are beginning to decay, and consequently 

 require his immediate attention. This aspect of the woodpecker's 

 operations seems far more just than that contained even in modern 

 books, ' it is a great enemy of old trees in consequence of the holes 

 which it digs in their trunks.' " —(P. 292). 



