Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/299

Rh one of the adversaries, and in which consequently the fighting seldom reached any high degree of severity. We must now consider some others in which each of the opponents acts as a stimulus to the pugnacious instinct of the other. It is here, of course, that we find the most violently contested battles, and it is here, too, that the purpose of the fighting seems clear. The persecution which the Green Woodpecker suffers from the Starling is well known. The purpose of the Starling's behaviour is clear, namely the possession of the hole occupied by the Woodpecker. Bird for bird, the Woodpecker is more than the equal of the Starling, but persistent endeavour ultimately wins the day. The Starlings perch close beside the hole, and, whenever the Woodpecker shows itself, attack with determination; and not only do they do so but they are assisted, so there is reason to believe, by other individuals or pairs in the attainment of their end, so that no matter how stoutly the Woodpecker defends itself, in time it is almost certain to be deprived of its ownership.

In like manner different kinds of Woodpeckers contend with one another for the possession of a hole, and here the opponents are more equally matched. I have seen a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers endeavouring to drive away a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The excitement of all three birds was exceptional. Each of the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers kept swooping in turn at their rival, sometimes in the