Windy March found me one morning in a pleasant wooded district in Suffolk. Above the tossing of the branches of the great elms, as the gale rushed over, sounded the notes of the Mistle-Thrush, fitly named the storm-cock, singing out his defiance to the weather, as he swayed on the topmost bough of an old cedar across the lawn. He is one of the earliest heralds of spring, and is never daunted by the weather, though it revert to wintry wildness. On the same lawn, well kept though it be, if we look out early enough, we may see a pair of Green Woodpeckers. Last evening, when for a time all was hushed and still, the well-known yiking laugh of the Yaffil, as Chaucer called him, came over from the avenue, whence, too, had sounded his busy drumming. Then he and his mate were busy getting the grubs that had bored deep down in the timber, but now come up near the bark of the trees in order to get the warmth necessary for their development. In the early morning hours, when the watchful gardener has not yet appeared, the pair tear holes in his well-tended lawns with their feet, and hack at the turf with strong bills to get at the grubs below. They feed indeed largely on ground grubs throughout the year, as well as on ants in summer, and timber-haunting grubs and beetles. The Lesser Spotted species, although not so widely distributed, is even more common in the south of England, and near London. One was shot lately in Scotland, as “a very rare bird.” It is probably chiefly owing to the cutting down of old forests that they are not found in Scotland. Now and again they may even be seen in Kensington Gardens. We have no picture of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (_Dendrocopus minor_). It is perhaps oftener present with us than is supposed, being smaller than its relatives. Also it frequents taller trees. I have seen numbers of these bright busy creatures in Hungary, in the poplars, along the river Waag, in the foothills of the Carpathians. Its colouring is much the same as the Greater Spotted species, only the markings are different and it is only just over five inches in length, whereas its near congener is just over nine inches. The male bird makes the same loud vibrating noise in the trees as the latter. The Green Woodpecker is 12 inches in length. The mantle is bright olive-green. The crown of the male bird, as far down as the nape, is fiery red, also the moustaches. The lores and cheeks black, is less crimson on the head of the female, and the moustaches are black. The outer feathers of the wing are nearly black with white flecks. It has two front and two back toes; the claws, strong, curved and adapted for clinging. The tail feathers strong and suitable for pressing. Beak leaden-grey, strong, with an edge like an adze; worm shaped tongue which can be greatly extended. Having selected a suitable tree, it makes its nest hole at a medium height, with a narrow entrance and lays in it six--sometimes, but rarely--eight dazzling snow white eggs.