192 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



Audubon says in Birds of America: l 



The flight of the Red-bellied Nuthatch is seldom protracted farther than from 

 tree to tree; and in this manner a certain number go south at the approach of 

 winter, some at this season venturing as far as South Carolina although they are 

 never seen in the maritime districts of that State. 



From this statement it would appear that neither Audubon 

 nor Bachman ever detected it at or near Charleston. On Novem- 

 ber 14, 1895, I saw two specimens on Long Island (Isle of Palms), 

 one of which was secured, making the first record for the coast 

 region. These specimens were recorded by the writer in the 

 Auk. 2 Since these birds were observed I have found the species 

 to be an irregular autumn and early winter visitant, as the follow- 

 ing records will show: 



Long Island, November 27, 1901. Shot six and saw over a hundred in pine 

 and cedar woods near the front beach ; also shot two on December 26 at the same 

 place. 



Dewees Island, December 18, 1903. Took an adult male. 



Oakland plantation, Christ Church Parish, October 29, 1906. Shot an adult 

 male, the specimen being the only one I have yet observed on the mainland. 



Long Island, November 3, 1906. Saw more than twenty-five and obtained two. 



Dewees Island, November 17, 1906. Shot two males, and observed perhaps 

 thirty individuals. 



This species shows moult when it arrives, and as long as it re- 

 mains, which is certainly very strange. The birds feed upon the 

 seed of the pine and cedar and seem to be particularly fond of the 

 latter. While this bird has been common in November, 1901, and 

 November, 1906 , it apparently does not remain through the winter, 

 but disappears almost as suddenly as it arrives. 



My friend Mr. Ellison A. Smyth, Jr., shot a male of this species 

 on October 4, 1886, in Clarendon county. This specimen was 

 recorded by him in Random Notes, 3 and also in the Proceedings of 

 the Elliott Society. 4 Mr. Smyth was of the opinion that the speci- 

 men taken by him was the first record for South Carolina, but 

 Mr. Leverett M. Loomis secured a specimen in Chester county on 

 February 24, 1877, which he recorded in the Bulletin of the Nutt- 

 all Ornithological Club. 5 



The migration of this nuthatch is not due to cold weather, but 

 to the absence of food supply, which, as I have said, consists of 

 the seed of the pine and cedar. The notes of this bird strikingly 

 resemble those of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, but are, of 

 course, much weaker. 



1 IV, 180. » XIII, 1896, 85. ' III, No. XI, 85. 



4 II, 123-124, Oct. 1886. » IV, 1879, 211. 



