THE GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER, 
615 
sides, seeking to repair the damage as soon as pos¬ 
sible, and punish the delinquent. The Woodpecker, 
however, quietly awaits the attack, plunges its long, 
glutinous tongue in the midst of the tumultuous 
crowd, and then, with evident satisfaction, allows the 
ants to cluster on that organ, until no more can stick to 
or bite it, when it suddenly draws it back, ants and all. 
Besides these insects this bird is very fond of the larvae 
of the large carpenter bee, although they are not to be 
extracted from the timber without great labour : in short, 
as before said, it devours all insects that are to be met 
with in wood, no matter under what circumstances they 
live. These ant-hills, and the drinking places frequented 
by these Woodpeckers, are the only spots where they 
alight on the ground, for, except when obliged, they 
never do so; on the contrary, they, immediately on 
reaching the branch of a tree, usually cling to the under 
side of the stem. 
The flight of the Great Black Woodpecker is distin¬ 
guishable from that of the other members of the family, 
inasmuch as it is unaccompanied by any whirring sound, 
and the undulating curves are neither so long nor so 
marked; besides which, the bird does not exert itself 
as much as the other species do. For all this, the Black 
Woodpecker rarely flies any great distance at a time, 
although it shows itself very agile on the wing, when in 
pursuit of one of its own species or any other member of 
the family. 
If the end of April is fine, the pair begin to think of 
preparing their nest. The construction of a suitable 
habitation is a matter involving no small amount of 
labour, for it must be of a certain size, and the work of 
excavation demands great exertion. It is true that the 
