AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 71 



2. The bill of the Woodpecker is very long and strong, and serves as 

 a hammer and chisel to drill for insects which hide beneath the bark of 

 trees. 



3. The male Downy, Hairy, Crested, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, the 

 Sapsucker and the Flicker each have a red mark somewhere upon their 

 heads. 



4*. Woodpeckers feed upon grubs, beetles, nuts, seeds, and fruits. 



5. The Woodpecker excavates a hole for a nest in a partly decayed tree, 

 using the sawdust and chips for a lining to the nest. For warm winter 

 quarters he drills a hole in the underside of a branch, where he is protected 

 from winter storms. 



6. The rolling tattoo which the Woodpecker beats upon a hollow limb 

 serves for a love song. 



7. The family name of the Woodpecker is Picidae. 

 Numerical enigma, Pine Grosbeak. 



Extracts From Our Mail Bag. 



A Day With the Shore Birds of Long Island. 



On Washington's Birthday, 1905, my brother, some friends and I spent 

 the day at Roekaway Beach, L. I. The place consists of about ten fisher- 

 men's houses on a little promontory with a bay on one side and the ocean on 

 the other. Between these is a large marsh, which fortunately, was entirely 

 frozen over when we were there. 



Hundreds of Herring Gulls, immature and adults, were flying over the 

 billows, generally low down, but now and then flying up high, only to return 

 again and disappear behind some wave in search of food. These birds ac- 

 companied us in all our walk. There was not a place where we could not see 

 them. Black-backed Gulls were intermingled with them, though not so num- 

 erous. We also saw a few Ring-billed Gulls and one Bonaparte Gull. When 

 the Gulls settled on tlie ground we noticed that they always got up facing the 

 wind. 



Constantly, flocks of old Squaw Ducks and Scoters, of both varieties, 

 would fly over our heads, and lots of land birds such as Crows, Snow Bunt- 

 ings, Juncos, etc., were to be seen on the beach. 



We now left the beach and crossed the marsh, which was simply filled with 

 Tree Sparrows, and we also identified an Ipswich Sparrow. 



As we were getting rather hungry, we asked a fisherman if we could eat 

 our lunch in his cottage. He seemed delighted with the prospect, and I hope 

 it was not entirely from mercenary motives. 



After lunch we walked home along the other side of the promontory, by 



