THE ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKKR. 75 



Its flight is swift, greatly undulating', and is often protracted for considerable 

 distances. It is quite common in northern Maine, and Mr. Manly Hardy con- 

 siders it as the tamest and most stupid of the Woodpeckers found in that State. 

 He writes me: "Here (in Maine) it is rarely, if ever, found in any numbers far 

 from burnt tracts; if in green growth, usually singly, or at most in pairs; hut 

 on newly burnt lands specimens may be found by the score, and their sharp, 

 shrill 'chirk, chirk' can be heard in all directions. It seems to feed entirely on 

 such wood worms as attack spruce, pine, and other soft-wood timber that has 

 been fire-killed. Specimens are so abundant in such places that 1 once shot 

 the heads off of six in a few minutes when short of material for a stew." 



The food of this Woodpecker seems to consist almost entirely of tree- 

 boring insects and their larvae, mainly Bwprestida and Cerambycidce ; but 

 Audubon states that it feeds also on berries and fruits. It never attacks a 

 healthy tree, and is far more beneficial than harmful, and deserves protection. 



Mr. J. W. Preston, of Baxter, Iowa, writes me that he found this Wood- 

 pecker breeding in Becker County, Minnesota, the nesting site being situated in 

 alive larch tree, about 30 feet from the ground; it contained young on June 

 13, 1887. Dr. James C. Merrill, United States Army, found it breeding in 

 Prickly Pear Canyon, on the road between Helena and Fort Shaw, Montana, as 

 well as near Fort Klamath, Oregon; and Mr. R. S. Williams writes me that the 

 species is tolerably common about Columbia Falls, Montana. Mr. R MacFarlane 

 found it nesting near Fort Providence, Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territory, 

 and Mr. C. Krieghoff at Three Rivers, Lower Canada, eggs taken by the two 

 last-named gentlemen being now in the collection. Dr. C. Hart Merriam 

 found two nests, with eggs, of this species in the Adirondacks, near Seventh 

 Lake, Fulton Chain, Hamilton County, New York, on May 27 and June 2, 1883, 

 and has kindly furnished me with the following notes : 



"The water of Seventh Lake, Fulton Chain, had been raised l>v a dam at 

 the foot of Sixth Lake, flooding a considerable area along- the inlet, and the trees 

 killed by the overflow stood in about 6 feet of water. In 1883 the place was 

 first visited by me, May 27. Both species of Three-toed Woodpeckers (Pieoides 

 americanus and arcticus') were tolerably common, and one new nest of each was 

 found. That of P. arcticus contained one fresh egg - . The nest was 10 inches 

 deep, and the opening within 5 feet of the surface of the water. It was in a dead 

 spruce, 10 inches in diameter. A pair of White-bellied Swallows ( Tachycineta 

 bicolor) had feathered their nest in a deserted Woodpecker's hole higher up in 

 the same stub. The place was next visited June 2, but the date proved still too 

 early. Several unfinished nests of P. americanus were found, and one completed 

 nest with four fresh eggs of P. arcticus. Like the one found on my first visit, it 

 was in a dead sprace and about 5 feet above the water. The nest was 11 inches 

 deep and the orifice I4 inches in diameter. Many of last year's nests were 

 occupied by White-bellied Swallows. Some of the Three-toed Woodpeckers 

 were unusually noisy, the males scolding, rapping loudly on the dead wood, and 

 making much ado for these ordinarily quiet birds. Nests were found in balsam, 



