April 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



57 



had satisfied their curiosity and departed it 

 l)eeanie nearly unbearable. At last, late in 

 the afternoon, 1 decided that I had enough, so 

 shaking off the snow, I moved cautiously down 

 the swale. Just as I was climbing over a large 

 pile of burnt logs I happened to look up, and 

 there right ahead, on an old stub, sat a black 

 Woodpecker with a yellow forehead patch. 

 Au Arctic Tliree-toed! I exclaimed to myself, 

 and hastily changed the buckshot in my shot 

 barrel to No. 6, the smallest I had on hand, 

 but by that time he had gone. I followed for 

 some distance in the direction of his long 

 sweeping flight, and was just about to despair 

 when I espied another, this time a female. No 

 time was wasted in bringing her down, you 

 may be sure, although the shot called down 

 maledictions on my head from an Indian deer 

 hunter in the vicinity. A few minutes later I 

 discovered another female hammering away on 

 a fallen log, side by side with a Hairy Wood- 

 pecker. She was very tame, I could not scare 

 her off, so backing away to a suitable dis- 

 tance I sacrificed her for the benefit of science. 

 Those tliree were all I met with, but after my 

 return ho7iie I received a fine male accom- 

 panied by a letter from Mr. Bristol of the 

 camp, stating that the black Woodpeckers had 

 become very comnnni; uiucli more so than the 

 light ones (Ilairys). 



4. American Three-toed Woodpecker {Pi- 

 coides anwricanus). Although this bird occurs 

 rarely in this state I have never had the gooil 

 fortune to meet with il. 



5. Yellow-bellied .Sapsucker {Splujrapicus 

 varius). The Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers 

 arrive about the first week in April, and are 

 abundant for a fortnight, after which they 

 nearly disappear, but a few remaining to breed. 

 During tlicir stay they are found everywhere, 

 being especially fond oi frequenting the sugar 

 maples. 



See that old male fly into the large hickory 

 tree; selecting a good position on the vertical 

 trunk he girdles it with a series of small holes 

 about an inch apart. After excavating these 

 by a few strokes of his powerful bill he re- 

 peats the operation at another point. After 

 ten or fifteen minutes he returns, and placing 

 his bill sideways along the limb licks up the 

 sap that has collected. Sometimes, but rarely, 

 he inserts his bill in the holes and often 

 catches a few of the winged insects attracted 

 by the sweet sap. 



During the latter part of their stay they 

 station themselves on the slender tips of 

 maple branches and greedily devour the green 



buds; besides this they derive a considerable 

 portion of their sustenance from the soil over 

 which they progress by a series of hops. 

 Their cry is a single harsh screech often slid- 

 ing into a clear note as if the performer's voice 

 was cracked. This may be nearly imitated 

 by means of a common goose call. 



Few birds will furnish a more pleasant sub- 

 ject for a half hour's observation than this. 

 Each has a marked individuality and each can 

 be profitably studied. They are full of amus- 

 ing tricks of which a single instance will 

 suffice as an example. 



One was noticed boring his holes in a large 

 hickory tree, after finishing which he moved 

 on to the next, as is customary and proper. 

 Hardly had he become settled at his next task 

 before a second appeared and calmly a])pro- 

 priated the sap that the first had so laboriou.sly 

 earned. He ate there for some time but 

 speedily retreated when the first returned. 



The plumage of these Woodpeckers presents 

 great variation in regard to the throat and 

 crown patches. The forms may be divided as 

 follows : 



1. Crown black: throat light. Juv. females. 



2. Crown black; throat black. .Juv. of first 

 and second year. 



3. Crown red; throat light. Usual adult 

 female. 



4. Crown red; throat red. Usual adult 

 male. Females of this plumage occasionally 

 taken. 



6. Pileated Woodpecker (Ccephln^tis pile- 

 attts). These birds' are very rare and are be- 

 coming scarcer every year. They are now 

 confined to the heavily timbered portions of 

 the country, usually along the river swamps. 

 They have a loud cackling cry like that of a 

 scared hen, and their hammerings can be heard 

 a long distance. On Mackinac Island a speci- 

 men was brought to my brother by au Indian 

 boy, who assured us that the bird was not uu- 

 c(mimon as a late migrant. The country 

 people call them "Woodcocks" and under 

 that name they are often sold to unsuspecting 

 victims in search of a dainty. 



7. Red-headed Woodpecker {Melnnerpes 

 erythrophthalmus). Although by no means 

 our commonest, these are our most con- 

 spicuous representatives of this class. Arriv- 

 ing sometimes as early as the last of February 

 these birds do not attain the maximum of their 

 numbers until the last of April or the first of 

 May. This is our most familiar summer 

 species inasmuch as it is to be found in the 



