18 AUGUST 1939, Page 18

Ant-Eaters

The ants themselves are not safe from those animals that enjoy formic acid as a food. During the last few weeks the lawn of a small country house has been frequented daily by a young green woodpecker and a young wry-neck which both come there, as is probable, to feed on the ants. The neigh- bourhood, though not at all remarkable for its population of birds, is a favourite with those comparative rarities, the wry- neck or Cuckoo's Mate and the hawfinch. The wry-neck has built, or attempted to build, in two nesting-boxes in the vicinity, and the hawfinches, attracted in the first place by the large amount of seed on the many hornbeams, have been known to decimate the peas in some gardens. They work there only less destructively than the jays.