THE GREAT STOTTEL) WOODPECKER. 13‘J 
Shetland until September 1861, when a steady breeze from tlie 
south-east brought a large Hock of these strange visitors. T saw 
tlie first two at Halligartli on the 3rd of the month, and during 
the next few weeks great numbers were seen and captured in 
most parts of the Orkney and Shetland islands. As the birds 
were doing great damage in the garden, I shot several ; but it 
is remarkable that among these, and also among the numerous 
specimens brought to me from various quarters, there was not 
one female, and that, with a single exception, all were birds of 
the year. The first two presented nothing unusual in appear- 
ance ; but on taking a third into my hand, I at once remarked 
the worn appearance of the bill, tail, and claws. I immediately 
suspected that this was caused by the bird having been 
com 2 )elled, in the scarcity of trees, to seek its food among 
stones and rocks; and, upon opening the stomach, my suspi- 
cions were confirmed by the discovery, among other insects, of 
several small beetles which are found only upon the hills. 
I afterwards saw Spotted Woodpeckers on various parts of 
the hills, on walls, and even in high sea-cliffs. I also saw 
them upon roofs of houses and upon dunghills. Several were 
killed upon corn-stacks, but I never found .any grain in the 
stomach. They were frequently to be met with upon the 
ground among heather, where they were easily approached at 
all times, but more particularly in rainy or misty weather^ 
when their plumage became saturated with moisture, rendering 
them too heavy for a long flight. Under such circumstances 
many were stoned to death by boys. 
Those in the garden fed largely upon the seeds of the moun- 
tain-ash, which they procured by sjditting open the berries ; 
sometimes dropping a whole cluster upon the gi’ound and descend- 
ing to feed, but more frequently breaking the berries to pieces 
as they hung upon the trees. Yet even in the garden they did 
not confine themselves to trees ; at one time they might be 
seen busily searching among moss and dead leaves ; at another, 
in the midst of a tuft of coarse weeds ; and, again, intently 
examining the spiders’ webs upon the walls. 
