BULLETIN 



OF THE 



NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Vol. IV. JANUARY, 1879. No. 1. 



REMARKS ON SOME OF THE BIRDS OF LEWIS COUNTY, 

 NORTHERN NEW YORK. 



BY C. HART MERRIAM. 

 {Continued from p. 128, Vol. Ill) 



Sphyrapicus varius. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. — This ele- 

 gant species, second only to the Red-headed Woodpecker in point 

 of beauty, is a common summer resident in Lewis County, frequent- 

 ing alike the orchards and hard-wood groves of the central district, 

 and the dense evergreen forests, Canadian in Fauna, of the Adiron- 

 dack region in the eastern, and the Tug Hill range in the western, 

 portion of the county. 



The males reach us about the middle of April (April 13, 1878), 

 and are followed by their partners about a week afterwards. They 

 depart during the latter part of August, though a few scattering 

 individuals, chiefly young, may be seen throughout September and 

 even into October. These individuals I believe to be migrants who 

 breed farther north and tarry with us but a day or two during thsir 

 journey southward. Still it is true that they are most frequently 

 seen about the " food-trees " (to be mentioned farther on), and it 

 may be that a few inexperienced young of our own summer resi- 

 dents remain, reluctant to leave these favorite provision stores, 

 after their parents and brothers are already well on the way to their 

 winter-quarters. 



Their breeding habits have been so fully and graphically por- 

 trayed (in an early number of this Bulletin *) by the able pen of 



* Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. I, No. 3, pp. 63-70, September, 1876. 

 VOL. IV. 1 



