Merriam on Birds of Leicis County, Neio York. 125 



tate before taking flight, and run up the trunks muttering to them- 

 selves in a grumbling, dissatisfied sort of a way, but taking good care to 

 keep the tree well between them and the intruder, at whom, meanwhile, 

 they take an occasional peep, exposing little more than the bill and one 

 eye, however, so that it is no easy matter to shoot them. 



During the autumn the scattered pairs for several miles around usually 

 congregate in some suitable wood, containing a plenty of beech-trees, and 

 here spend the long cold winter in company, chattering and chasing one an- 

 other about among the trees to keep warm, and to help while away the time. 

 " Coe's woods," in this immediate vicinity, has long been famous as the 

 great winter resort for the Red-headed Woodpeckers of the neighborhood, 

 and it is certainly the most suitable place for their purposes to be found 

 for many miles around. This piece of woods, not over an eighth of a 

 mile in extent, contains, besides hundreds of beeches (Fagus ferruginea), 

 a large number of elms (Ulmus americana), and white ash-trees {Fraxinus 

 americana) of great size, most of the tops of which are now dead. What 

 more favorable location than this woods could a Woodpecker desire 1 

 Here they have beechnuts in abundance and a bountiful supply of dead 

 limbs and tree-tops far above the reach of the small charges commonly 

 used by bird-collectors. 



The Red-headed Woodpeckers have a very provoking way of keeping 

 on the upper side of a very high limb, so that, from below, one can get 

 little more than an occasional glimpse of the bird's head, and an expect- 

 ant gazing upward at this is very apt to prove unsatisfactory and to result 

 in a stiff neck. At such times, as if in defiance, their harsh rattling note 

 is constantly repeated, and they are rarely quiet unless taken by surprise 

 at close quarters, when they generally slide quickly to the opposite side 

 of the tree, and after running up a short distance, take flight. Still they 

 are by no means so noisy as the Yellow-bellied fellows, who, not content 

 with stretching to the utmost their vocal powers, take especial delight in 

 drumming on hard resonant trees, eave-troughs, and tin roofs. 



Though not particularly quarrelsome in disposition, they evidently 

 enjoy an occasional row, both among themselves and with other inhabi- 

 tants of the forest. But a short time since (May 14), while passing 

 through Coe's woods, I heard a great commotion among the Woodpeckers, 

 and found a couple of Melanerpes worrying a pair of Downy Woodpeckers 

 (Picus pubescens), who had made their nest in a hole in the dead beech, 

 which was the seat of the difficulty. They chased and dove at one 

 another for some time, the Red-heads being the aggressive party, and made 

 considerable bluster and noise, but, so far as actual fighting was concerned, 

 neither party seemed to make much headway ; and I put an end to the 

 affray by shooting the Melanerpes, who were so excited that they did 

 not notice me at all. At another time, in midwinter (January, 1876), my 

 attention was called, by the noise they made, to a pair of Red-headed 

 Woodpeckers who were diving at something on one of the highest limbs of 



