BIRD LIFE AT GREAT STAN MORE 
193 
possible attention. It must be added that they seemed quite 
willing to accept the favour of his company. Thinking that I 
could perhaps reclaim him and possibly even make him ashamed 
of his heartless conduct, I had his two wives taken from the 
farm-pond down to the lake. The result was curious. First, as 
was natural, away flew the wild ducks. Then I expected to see 
the drake fraternise with his legitimate partners. Whether he 
would have done so or no will never be known, for his wives 
would have nothing to say to him : they treated him as if they 
had never set eyes on him before, and, turning their backs, they 
made their way up to the farm with such haste that they actually 
arrived there before we did. Thus repulsed from the domestic 
pond, the drake determined to stay where he was. He was soon 
taken back into the confidence of the wild ducks, and he now 
flies as vigorously as they do. What his relation to the wild 
drakes may be I cannot say, but they certainly tolerate him, or 
else he would before now have been driven away from the 
lake. 
Redwings and fieldfares have been very numerous this 
winter, one reason for this having probably been the large 
quantity of haws remaining on the hedges. These were 
especially noticeable during November and December, when 
numbers of blackbirds and song-thrushes might be seen feeding 
upon them in the hedgerows. 
Several years ago woodcock were to be seen both on the 
common and in the hollow by the lake. Last year I saw a 
woodcock twice ; this winter I have not even heard of one. They 
are of course very shy and almost nocturnal in their habits, 
but I am afraid they are forsaking this place. 
A few snipe have frequented the smaller lake here and 
the county ditch, and on one occasion, early in the winter, eight 
common gulls were put up from a field on the farm. 
It is cheering to find that one result of bird-protection 
afforded in this place is the increase in the number of wood- 
peckers. The laughing cr}' of the green woodpecker is to be heard 
throughout the year in all directions, and this spring the lesser 
spotted woodpecker is nesting in several places in the gardens. 
One old tree-stem has nine holes made by this bird, in one 
of which I believe a nest may very likely be formed. In the 
early morning one may watch this tropical-looking bird busily 
engaged either in searching for insects or chiselling holes in the 
rotten tree-stems which it selects for its operations. In one case 
the breeding-hole is only five feet from the ground and a gravel 
walk is near by, so that if the bird continues as fearless as it 
now is it may be possible to observe something of its habits 
during the nesting season. 
J. W. Odell. 
