386 



POPPINJAY. 



The tongue is no less wonderfully formed for insinuating- into all the 

 smaller crevices to extract the hidden treasure, by transfixing the larger 

 insects, or by adhesion withdrawing the smaller ; for, like the wryneck, it 

 is furnished with a glutinous substance for that purpose. Nor can we 

 less admire the short and strong formation of the legs, and the hooked 

 claws, so well calculated to enable them to climb and affix themselves 

 against the body of a tree, either to roost, or perforate a hole ; to assist 

 which the stiff tail is of infinite use. The jarring noise so frequently 

 heard in woods, in the spring, is occasioned by one or other of this 

 genus, which, from frequent observation, we have no doubt is used as a 

 call by both sexes to each other. It is curious to observe them try 

 every part of a dead limb till they have discovered the most sonorous, 

 and then the strokes are reiterated with such velocity that the head is 

 scarcely perceived to move, the sound of which may be distinctly heard 

 half a mile. 



Dr. Plot was mistaken when he conceived this noise to be produced 

 by the nuthatch, who says, in describing that bird, " that, by putting 

 their bill into a crack in the bough of a tree, can make such a violent 

 sound as if it was rending asunder." 



Woodpeckers are commonly seen climbing up a tree, but never 

 down, as some have asserted. The hole which they make is as perfect 

 a circle as if described by a pair of compasses. For the places of nidi- 

 fication the softer woods are attacked, the elm, ash, and particularly 

 the asp, but rarely the oak. These are only perforated where they 

 have symptoms of decay ; and the excavations are frequently deep, to 

 give security to their eggs. This species lays four or five white eggs, 

 weighing about two drams, which are placed on the rotten wood, with- 

 out any nest. The young birds have the appearance of crimson on 

 their heads, but not so bright as in adults. 



Ants and their eggs are a favourite repast of this species, for which 

 they are frequently seen on the ground searching the emmit hills. 

 The tongue is here made use of instead of the bill, similar to that of 

 the wryneck. Its note is harsh, and its manner of flying undulated. 



*" Beauty of plumage," says Bechstein, " is the only good quality we 

 can perceive in this species ; for in confinement he is so fierce and mu- 

 tinous, that it becomes necessary to restrain him with a chain ; never- 

 theless, one or two of these birds form a very agreeable variety in the 

 aviary : its favourite haunt, during the summer, is the skirts of the 

 forests ; but on the approach of winter, it approaches the villages, flying 

 from one garden to another during the day, and retiring to a hole in 

 some decayed tree on the approach of evening."* 



