HOME-WRECKERS.
Many. of us have had evidence of the persistent eviction of other birds, especially woodpeckers, by the ubiquitous
starling ; bA the following experience of a Norwich observer is hard to parallel. A pair of green woodpeckers, first dis- ervered by the chips falling to the ground, were watched in the daily act of boring a hole in a large ash tree. Unfortu- nately among the watchers were starlings, and a pair of them seized the hole as soon as it was complete. One of the woodpeckers would cling to the tree about a foot below the nest, but neither he nor she made the slightest attempt to fight the starlings. An attempt was made to fight on their behalf ; and an ambush laid for the evictors. Within a few days as many as thirteen starlings were shot, some- times the hen bird, sometimes the cock fell ; but which- ever it was, the survivor found a mate with the minimum of delay and a pair remained in possession. At this point the fight on the woodpeckers' behalf WRS suspended and a pair of starlings duly nested in the stolen quarters.
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