OBSEEVED IN HEETFOEDSHIEE IN 1890. 
127 
Dr. Brett tells me that the siskin or aberdevine (Carduelis spinus) 
was very abundant in the autumn. It is principally a winter 
visitant, but not infrequently breeds in the north. 
The Green Woodpecker (Ficus viridis). — That indefatigable 
observer, Mr. Lewis, tells me that the green woodpecker has 
greatly increased in numbers. I observed one the other day in my 
own garden. One that he saw at Knebworth was of course shot 
by that enemy of all except game-birds, the gamekeeper. Mr. 
Solly also expresses an opinion that this bird is greatly on the 
increase. I hope so. It is not only beautiful and harmless, but 
really useful in destroying the insects which produce rot in trees. 
As I dilated on the general habits of this beautiful bird in my last 
year’s report, I will not further comment on him, but I may tell 
yon the story of its near relation, the great black woodpecker, 
which in Norway is called “ Gertrude’s bird.” This is the legend 
on which the name is founded:—Gertrude was a baker, and she 
wore a red mutch on her head. A holy man begged the gift of one 
of the cakes she was baking, which she churlishly refused; the 
holy man, who was possessed of miraculous powers, and not proof 
against the pleasure of revenge, pronounced her doom—that she 
should be “ transformed into a bird, bound to find its food betwixt 
bark and bole for ever, and never drink but from the raindrops.” 
So the old lady was changed into a bird forthwith, and flew away 
up the chimney. She is now seen with her red mutch on her head, 
and her body all black with the soot, seeking her food under the 
hark of the trees, and is never seen to drink from lake or river. 
The Sea-Eagle (Haliaetus alhicilla ).—An immature specimen of 
this bird, which figures in the papers as a “splendid specimen of 
the golden eagle ” (Aquila chrysaetus), was cruelly done to death 
by a gamekeeper near Hitchin, who seems to have fired four or five 
shots into the body of the poor famished bird. I have not seen it, 
but, from the description, I have no hesitation in assuming it to 
have been a young white-headed eagle. Until the second year it is 
difficult to distinguish the one from the other, and whilst the 
white-headed eagle is comparatively common, the golden eagle is, 
unhappily, almost extinct. However, if any one here can get a 
sight of the bird, which has no doubt been stuffed, there can be no 
mistake in the matter. Besides minor differences, which I need 
not detail, the golden-eagle’s legs are feathered down to the claws ; 
while those of the sea-eagle are bare. The eagle owes much to his 
noble appearance, and is credited with corresponding mental 
attributes, to which he is by no means entitled. I look upon the 
bird as a rank impostor; sluggish, cowardly, and gluttonous. He 
will, like the vultures, feed on any dead carcase he may find, and 
his proudest boast is to murder an unprotected or sickly lamb, or to 
strangle a timid hare. The long-winged falcons are the really 
noble birds, striking at quarries capable of resistance, such as 
herons and rooks, and disdaining to eat of any bird or beast which 
they have not themselves killed. The eagle is called “ the king 
of the birds,” but its claim to the dignity is disputed by the wren. 
