Country Life
THE WOODPECKERS' MISTAKE.
A little curiosity of natural history which some naturalists were disposed to disbelieve—and belief was certainly hard —has been probed and tested ; and the curiosity is, if any- thing, " euriouser " than it was. Woodpeckers, it was alleged, were beginning to cause the destruction of telegraph poles. In spite of the creosote, the absence of insects and the use- lessness of so narrow a trunk for nesting, the woodpeckers insisted on boring holes. So far as I know, there is just one place in the world—and one only—where this strange habit has been observed, or, at any rate, investigated. A con- siderable number of the wooden posts used for carrying electric wires have been drilled, deep enough to weaken them seriously, over a considerable reach between Ross and Ledbury. Photographs have been taken and some of the damaged parts of the poles have been brought to Hereford.
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