126 Merriam on Birds of Lewis County, New York. 



a large elm. A near approach showed the object of their malice to be a 

 handsome black squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis var. leiicotis, Allen), who 

 had been unfortunate enough to excite their ire by climbing a tree in 

 broad daylight. The squirrel at first evaded their attacks from above by 

 clinging to the under surface of the limb, and dodged their lateral shoots 

 by a quick side shift, but this was temporary. The Woodpeckers, 

 realizing that they were not tormenting the squirrel to a satisfactory ex- 

 tent, alighted for a brief council, during which the squirrel took occasion 

 to commence a hasty retreat. But the birds were at him again in an 

 instant, this time changing their tactics, and both dove together, the one 

 following closely behind the other, so that as the squirrel dodged the first 

 he was sure to be struck by the second. The blows from their hard bills 

 were so severe and so painful that the poor squirrel had not been struck 

 half a dozen times when he let go his hold and fell to the ground, but 

 was off and up another tree before I could reach the spot. I witnessed a 

 similar attack upon a gray squirrel (color-variety of same species) last 

 August, but this time the squirrel succeeded in getting into a hollow limb. 

 The time of year at which the above instances occurred precludes the pos- 

 sibility that the cause of the diflSculty arose from an intrusion on the 

 nesting-grounds of the "Woodpeckers, for the first took place in midwinter, 

 and the second after the young were fully fledged and had left the nest. 

 Neither is it at all likely that the trouble was due to an old grudge which 

 might have arisen from a habit, on the part of the squirrel, of robbing the 

 Woodpeckers of their eggs, for the size of the animal is such as to prevent 

 his ready entrance into the Woodpecker's hole, and should he even succeed 

 in getting in he would doubtless pay the penalty with his eyes if not his 

 life. Hence it seems fair to conclude that the disposition of the bird is not 

 altogether in keeping with its pretty plumage, but that it sometimes plays 

 the part of tyrant over those who, from lack of wings or inferiority of size, 

 are unable to offer adequate resistance. 



•. During the summer months, when beechnuts are striving to become 

 young trees, and insects are particularly abundant, they feed largely on 

 the latter ; and in autumn, in some parts of the countrj', destroy large 

 quantities of fruit, "ripe cherries and pears seeming to be a favorite 

 repast." * 



Like other Woodpeckers they procure larvae by puncturing dead limbs, 

 and mature insects by searching crevices in the bark, but, unlike other 

 members of the family, they also capture their prey in mid-air, after the 

 manner of the true Flycatchers. Thus occupied, I have several times seen 

 them from fence-posts, and twice from the dead top of " the old gum-tree " 

 (a large spruce), make frequent sallies into the air after passing insects, 

 which were almost invariably secured, so accurate was their aim. Atten- 

 tion has already been called to their fly-catching proclivities by Mr. 



* J. P. Giraud, Jr. Birds of Long Island, p. 180, 1844. 



