226 MAMMALIA. 



But this is the year when the nut crop is a failure. Therefore, as 

 the fall advances and they find that there is a scarcity of provision 

 for the winter, many of them migrate we know not where. Then 

 come the October " Squirrel hunts ' -a disgrace to the State as well 

 as to the thoughtless men and boys who participate in them and 

 the number left to winter is deplorably small. 



As the abundance of the Gray Squirrel in winter is governed by 

 the supply of beechnuts, so is the presence, at this season, of its 

 assailant, the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), 

 determined by the same cause. I have elsewhere called attention to 

 this fact, remarking that " with us a good Squirrel year is synonymous 

 with a good year for Melanerpes, and vice versa." * Gray Squirrels, 

 red-headed woodpeckers, and beechnuts were numerous during the 

 winters of 1871-72, 1873-74, 1875-76, 1877-78, 1879-80, 1881-82, 

 1883-84, while during the alternate years the Squirrels and nuts 

 were scarce, and the woodpeckers altogether absent. 



Several years ago I published the following account of the way 

 that these handsome birds sometimes harass the Squirrels : "In mid- 

 winter (January, 1876) my attention was called, by the noise they 

 made, to a pair of red-headed woodpeckers who were diving at some- 

 thino- on one of the highest limbs of a large elm. A near approach 

 showed the object of their malice to be a handsome Black Squirrel 

 who had been unfortunate enough to excite their ire by climbing a 

 tree in broad daylight. The Squirrel at first evaded their attacks 

 from above by clinging to the under surface of the limb, and dodged 

 their lateral shoots by a quick side shift, but this was temporary. 

 The woodpeckers, realizing that they were not tormenting the Squir- 

 rel to their full satisfaction, alighted for a brief council, during 

 which the Squirrel took occasion to commence a hasty retreat. But 

 the birds were at him in an instant, this time changing- their tactics ; 



^j <j 



both dove together, the one following closely behind the other, so 

 that as the Squirrel dodged the first he was sure to be struck by the 



* Forest and Stream, Vol. XVII, No. 18, Dec. i, 1881, p. 347. 



