30 JUNE 1939, Page 18

Three Woodpeckers The lengthy song or call of the Green

Woodpecker, which has earned it the name of Yaffle, and the very loud drum- ming of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker announce their neighbourhood to all concerned. The Lesser Spotted has a blackbird-like shout, but it cannot be called a common sound. Perhaps the noisiest of all young birds is the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, if it is in any distress. If a well-grown bird falls from the nest it will shriek like a frightened child, pro- claiming its helpless state to all the neighbourhood. A West Country naturalist has attributed the comparative rarity of the bird to this unwise advertisement ; but this species has certainly multiplied in recent years, at any rate in Eastern England. It has been recently visiting gardens even in the neighbourhood of St. John's Wood and near Woking.