COLOURS OF WOODPECKERS 
behaviour is complicated by a course of action which 
was first made known by that well equipped ornitho- 
logist, the late Mr. Gould, who went to Australia in 1837 
for the joint purpose of collection and observation. 
The male builds with some little, but not much, assist- 
ance from the female, whose main rdle is to look on and 
admire, a kind of archway or bower made upon a plat- 
form of twigs by other twigs, interlaced where they 
meet at the top. Round and in this are scattered 
attractive objects, coloured, or startling by their white- 
ness. Bleached bones and gaily coloured shells and 
pebbles combine to form an esthetic playing ground. 
Round and through this the male rushes in amorous 
play, delighting the female by his beauty and activity. 
It is thought that the love of the little jackdaw for the 
cardinal’s ruby ring is a germof the same, and in the 
bower bird more fully developed, habit. The nest, it 
should be remarked, has nothing to do with the bower ; 
it is constructed for business purposes only, and is plain 
and unadorned. 
THE GREEN WOODPECKER 
Woodpeckers are numerous, wherever there are trees, 
in nearly all parts of the world; but they do not occur 
in Australia, or in that peculiarly peopled island, 
Madagascar. Woodpeckers are apt to be gay in colour, 
and of all colours. Green, red, yellow, pure white, and 
more dingy hues ornament the birds. Our own green 
woodpecker (Gecinus viridis) is a good type of the race 
to consider more closely ; and, indeed, one woodpecker 
is as good as another, or nearly so, to illustrate the 
peculiarities of this rather sharply marked off group of 
birds. A thick strong bill and (save in one or two kinds) 
four toes, of which two are turned forwards and two 
backwards, thus affording a strong grip upon the bark 
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