MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 81 



ceded a canoe for long distances along the river until, too far from their 

 accustomed haunts, they circled back over the burn to the old feeding 

 grounds. Not once were they observed to pass directlj^ over a boat. A 

 pair of this species was found about a little lake several miles south of camp, 

 and when observed were very busy fishing with most indifferent success. 

 Where this pair bred is a mystery, for it was miles to a suitable location. 

 Along the river, young birds began to appear late in July. 



23. Dryobates villosus villosus. Hairy Woodpecker. — ^While not abun- 

 dant, this species Avas recorded daily during the summer. It was most 

 frequently seen near the river, sometimes in the ash and alder thickets, 

 sometimes in the adjacent dead trees. A few individuals were also present 

 in the hardwood forest and its margin of fire killed trees. Nests were noted 

 all along the river in the belt of standing dead trees. The first was dis- 

 covered on July 2 and contained young birds nearly ready to leave it. No 

 nests containing eggs were found. 



24. Dryobates pubescens medianus. Dowoiy Woodpecker. — This wood- 

 pecker was abundant all summer, especially in dead trees near the river, 

 where it nested in numbers. When the young birds had left the nests — 

 and most of them had done so by the last week in July — the species had a 

 very noticeably wider distribution. Then it overflowed into the burn, and 

 the spruce and tamarack swamps had a larger population. The families 

 remained together for days after the young could fly, so in August the species 

 was usually encountered in small groups. Numerous nests were found in 

 dead trees along the rivers, where excellent nesting sites and abundant food 

 had attracted the birds. The first nest, found July 5, contained five well 

 grown young birds, some of which left the nest the following day. As 

 was the case with the preceding woodpecker, no nests of this species were 

 found which contained eggs. 



25. Sphyrapicus varius varius. Yellow-beUied Sapsucker. — -This species 

 was common all summer. It was most frequently seen in the standing 

 dead timber along the river, but many birds were living in the hardwood 

 forest and the standing dead trees at its margin. The birds fed on both 

 the live and dead trees without exhibiting much choice, therein differing 

 from the preceding species, which greatly preferred the dead wood. A nest 

 found on July 2 in a large dead white ash on the river bank was opened on 

 July 3 and found to contain six young birds nearly ready to fly. On July 

 12 a second nest was opened which contained four newly hatched birds. 



26. Phloeotomus pileatus abieticola. Northern Pileated Woodpecker. — 

 This species was first seen on July 24, when a young male was taken near 

 the hardwood forest on the Foster City trail. Birds were heard calling and 

 hammering on trees on numerous occasions during August, but were very 

 shy and difficult of observation. Signs of their work were plentiful, and 

 almost daily trees were noted that had a thick layer of chips about their 

 bases from the vigorous attacks of the woodpecker. On one occasion a 

 large fire-killed maple was found in which these woodpeckers had been 

 working. It was literally hammered to pieces — one excavation four feet 

 from the ground was about three feet in height and a foot in depth. The 

 trunks of the dead trees were attacked almost exclusively, the limbs being 

 excavated only very rarely. On July 31 a nest was found in a dead maple, 

 more than forty feet from the ground. There were evidences that it had 

 been recently occupied, but no birds were observed at the time. 



27. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker. — The species 



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