distribution in England is, as will presently be more fully
shewn, by no means general, while it occurs very rarely in
Scotland or Ireland. It frequents wooded districts, and is
commonly seen passing with an easy and undulating flight
from one tree to another, nearly always alighting, after a
deeper sweep than the preceding, on the lower side of a
bough or near the bottom of the trunk, often but a foot from
the ground, whence it climbs upwards in an oblique direction,
partly supporting itself by the stiff pointed feathers of its
tail, moving by starts, and if possible keeping the tree
between the observer and itself. Arrived near the top, it
will fly off, either returning to the lower part of the same
tree by a short circuit, or settling upon another, but in
either case to renew its movements in the same way.*
Clinging to the more or less vertical bole, or larger limbs, it
examines, as it goes, the crevices of the bark for the insects
on which it feeds ; on some trees occasionally knocking off,
with a few taps of its powerful beak, a bit of bark to discover
any that may be lodged beneath.
Insects of many sorts, often in their larval stage, but
especially the timber-haunting beetles, and spiders as wrell,
form the chief food of this Woodpecker for the greater part
of the year ; but in summer it preys largely upon ants, and
may then be often seen on the ground, where it maintains a
curiously upright attitude as it sits, or moves over the grass,
with a series of rapid but short hops, from one ant-hill to
another. Here it industriously turns over the ground with
its beak, spending often several minutes upon each nest and,
returning to the spot at intervals throughout the day, bores
conical pits (Zool. p. 2431) in the soil and secures the
insects as they fall down the sides. Examples obtained
at this time of year generally shew by the earth sticking to
their beak how they have been engaged. The bird is also
said to be an enemy to bees, and several authors concur in
stating that it will crack hazel-nuts and eat acorns.
* S e lb y sa y s h e h ad rep e a ted ly se en i t d escend tr e e s b y m o v in g backward.
The E d ito r h a s n o t been so fo r tu n a te , th ough h e th in k s h e m u st h a v e en jo y ed
more fr eq u en t op p o r tu n itie s of ob serving th e bird.
Generally solitary in its habits, spring is commonly well
advanced before it is seen paired. Then some familiar
haunt is usually chosen, and by careful watching, for it is a
very shy bird, the particular tree intended for the nest may
often be discovered. This is ordinarily an elm, ash, or
poplar, but by no means unfrequently a horse-chestnut, sycamore
or silver-fir, and rarely a beech or an oak—the harder
woods being almost always avoided—while a trunk or branch
that is rotten at the heart is commonly selected. Several
incisions are often commenced and abandoned for no apparent
cause; but when the work is begun in earnest, it is
steadily prosecuted, and sometimes with great speed, the
birds relieving each other by turns. The first incision is
vertical, but it is soon widened until a circular hole is cat
out, almost as truly as if traced by compasses or bored by a
drill. This hole runs horizontally till the heart is reached,
and then turning abruptly downwards is continued to the
depth perhaps of a foot.* At the bottom it is somewhat
enlarged, and there, without bedding of any sort, save a few
chips that have not been thrown out, the eggs from four to
seven in number are laid. These are of a pure, translucent,
glossy whitef, slightly pyriform in shape, and measure from
1"4 to 1'25 by from '91 to '85 in. But it not unfrequently
happens that some other bird, particularly a Starling as
before stated (page 232), will seize on the hole when completed,
and though a struggle, lasting perhaps for some days,
is the result, victory nearly always rests with the invader,
■who by carrying in a few sticks, straws or other furniture,
renders the chamber at once unfit for its constructor. The
Woodpecker thereupon gives up possession, and thus her
* I t h a s been sa id th a t th e bird s w ill carry to a d istanc e th e ch ip s made in
cu ttin g th e h o le ; b u t in th e E d ito r ’s exp e r ien c e th is is n ev e r done, and he h as
a lw a y s found th e e a s ie st wa y o f d isco v er in g a n e s t is b y o b serving th e fo o t o f each
tr e e in th e p resumed lo c a lity , th a t w h ich con ta in s i t b ein g in v a r iab ly recognizable
b y th e ch ip s strew n on th e ground.
4 E g g s sta in ed e ith e r by th e sap o f th e tree , or p erhaps by some fu n g o id
growth, h a v e b een fr eq u en tly found (Zool. p p . 2229, 2258, 2301, 2923, 6328),
and are very b e a u tifu l ob jects, some b e in g h ig h ly coloured. Ha rdy m en tion s a
n e s t o f gre en eggs (A nn u a ire Normand. v ii. p . 288, n o te ) brought to h im w ith
th e mo th er, but one cannot h e lp supposing th a t th e y ma y h a v e b een S ta r lin g s ’.