Merriam on Birds of Lewis County , New York. 125 
tate before taking flight, and run up the trunks muttering to them- 
selves in a grumbling, dissatisfied sort of a way, but taking good care to 
keep the tree well between them and the intruder, at whom, meanwhile, 
they take an occasional peep, exposing little more than the bill and one 
eye, however, so that it is no easy matter to shoot them. 
During the autumn the scattered pairs for several miles around usually 
congregate in some suitable wood, containing a plenty of beech-trees, and 
here spend the long cold winter in company, chattering and chasing one an- 
other about among the trees to keep warm, and to help while away the time. 
“ Coe’s woods,” in this immediate vicinity, has long been famous as the 
great winter resort for the Red-headed Woodpeckers of the neighborhood, 
and it is certainly the most suitable place for their purposes to be found 
for many miles around. This piece of woods, not over an eighth of a 
mile in extent, contains, besides hundreds of beeches ( Fagus ferruginea ), 
a large number of elms ( Ulmus americana ), and white ash-trees (. Fraxinus 
americana ) of great size, most of the tops of which are now dead. What 
more favorable location than this woods could a Woodpecker desire ? 
Here they have beechnuts in abundance and a bountiful supply of dead 
limbs and tree-tops far above the reach of the small charges commonly 
used by bird-collectors. 
The Red-headed Woodpeckers have a very provoking way of keeping 
on the upper side of a very high limb, so that, from below, one can get 
little more than an occasional glimpse of the bird’s head, and an expect- 
ant gazing upward at this is very apt to prove unsatisfactory and to result 
in a stiff neck. At such times, as if in defiance, their harsh rattling note 
is constantly repeated, and they are rarely quiet unless taken by surprise 
at close quarters, when they generally slide quickly to the opposite side 
of the tree, and after running up a short distance, take flight. Still they 
are by no means so noisy as the Yellow-bellied fellows, who, not content 
with stretching to the utmost their vocal powers, take especial delight in 
drumming on hard resonant trees, eave-troughs, and tin roofs. 
Though not particularly quarrelsome in disposition, they evidently 
enjoy an occasional row, both among themselves and with other inhabi- 
tants of the forest. But a short time since (May 14), while passing 
through Coe’s woods, I heard a great commotion among the Woodpeckers, 
and found a couple of Melanerpes worrying a pair of Downy Woodpeckers 
(Picus pubescens), who had made their nest in a hole in the dead beech, 
which was the seat of the difficulty. They chased and dove at one 
another for some time, the Red-heads being the aggressive party, and made 
considerable bluster and noise, but, so far as actual fighting was concerned, 
neither party seemed to make much headway ; and I put an end to the 
affray by shooting the Melanerpes , who were so excited that they did 
not notice me at all. At another time, in midwinter (January, 1876), my 
attention was called, by the noise they made, to a pair of Red-headed 
Woodpeckers who were diving at something on one of the highest limbs of 
