130 
MAMMALIA. 
that the misunderstanding is wholly in regard to the possession of the 
nuts. The red-headed is the only species of woodpecker that I 
have seen quarrel with the Gray Squirrel. 
On the 7th of November, 1879, 1 witnessed an exciting skirmish 
between a goshawk and a Gray Squirrel. The hawk dove repeatedly 
for the Squirrel, and as often did the latter evade him by quickly 
sliding around the trunk. He then chippered and scolded and shook 
his tail in the most aggravating manner imaginable. The hawk was 
much enraged, but finding himself unable to capture the object of 
his pursuit, finally alighted to wait till the Squirrel should venture 
on a limb — a proceeding which the latter wisely showed no inclina- 
tion to attempt. I put an end to the affair by shooting the hawk. 
Audubon and Bachman state that the red-tailed hawks hunt them in 
pairs, thus rendering the capture of the helpless animal certain and 
easy. 
The minor migratory movements of this species occur with more 
or less regularity from year to year, but on so small a scale as to 
escape general notice. They must not be confounded with the great 
migrations, not rare in former times, when these animals, actuated by 
some unknown influence, congregated in vast armies and moved over 
the land, crossing open prairies, climbing rugged mountains, and 
swimming lakes and rivers that lay in their path. Though hundreds, 
and sometimes thousands, perished by the way, the multitude moved 
on, devouring the nuts that grew in the forests through which they 
passed, and devastating the grain fields of the farmer along the route. 
Though these remarkable expeditions have been known and com- 
mented upon for many years, yet our knowledge of them is limited 
almost to the recognition of the fact of their existence. Scarcity of 
food very probably gives rise to the disquieting impulse that prompts 
them to leave their homes, but the true motives that operate in 
drawing them together, and in determining the direction and distance 
of their journeys, are as little understood to-day as they were before 
the discovery of the continent on which they dwell. 
