^°'i'9o^'^] General Notes. 8 1 



September 30. I counted 10 Lewis's Woodpeckers in the pomegranate 

 groves to-dav and secured 7 of them. They are surely beautiful birds. 

 Evidently they are young as all but three lack the cervical collar, and in 

 the three the collar, although well defined, is much narrower than those 

 commonly met with in the adult bird. A few white spots are apparent in 

 the necks of two, and two others are marked by a narrow line of dirty 

 looking gray. They were in company with some five or six Sparrow 

 Hawks and appeared to be on the most friendly terms with them. If dis- 

 turbed they flew together and invariably settled on the same bush or tree. 

 The woodpeckers did not cling to the boles of the trees, but sat on the 

 limbs after the manner common to all perchers. They were mostly 

 feeding on pomegranate fruit. They first cut a hole through the hard 

 skin of the fruit and then extract the pulp, leaving nothing but an empty 

 shell. I saw them repeatedly dart from their perches, generally on some 

 topmost limb, far into the air, apparently catch something and then return 

 to their starting point. 



The day was cloudy and the wind blowing hard, but from no particular 

 direction although the clouds were drifting westwardly. 



October 4. This afternoon I saw but two Lewis's Woodpeckers. 

 Towards night, however, probably a dozen gathered to a central point 

 where the bushes were more dense. 



October 8. The Tanagers and Orioles have finally disappeared. The 

 same may be said of the female Blue Grosbeaks, as I have not seen one 

 for the past week. Lewis's Woodpecker vvas not in evidence to-day. 



October 11. Yesterday it stormed hard. Towards evening it cleared 

 and to-day the weather is fine. I found Lewis's Woodpeckers very abun- 

 dant. To-day I particularly noted their habits which, as a whole, are very 

 unlike those of the Picidse. In flight they have little or none of that 

 laborious undulating movement so common to its kind, but in action and 

 flight the}' seem possessed of peculiarities supposed to belong to birds of 

 a totally different family. To-day not less than fifty of them were circling 

 through the air, at an elevation of about 500 feet, with all the ease and 

 grace of the Falconidse. Not a stroke of the wing was apparent. I saw 

 those in the trees leave their perches with the regularity of flycatchers, 

 dart after insects, pause momentarily in the air and then return directly 

 to the spot they had just left. I was under a tree when I saw one so leave 

 and return with a dragon fly in its mouth. It was not more than twenty 

 feet above me and in full view. It appeared to be anxious for others of its 

 family as it repeatedly uttered a peculiar chee, ckee, chee. That, at least, 

 was the most I could make of it. They are also on the ground much of 

 the time, but unfortunately the weeds are so thick that I cannot see what 

 'they do or how they act. When disturbed on the ground they fly to the 

 neighboring trees and sit in rows like so many overgrown blackbirds. 

 To-day, for the first time, I saw one sticking against the shaft of a mul- 

 berry tree beneath which I was standing. It was pretty well up towards 

 the top and tapping it very lightly. Several others were sitting on the 



