56 Food of Birds. [zoe 



taken away from that field nearly four thousand grains of barley 

 during that one evening's feeding. 



In some parts of California there is a strong prejudice against 

 the quail, owing to alleged damage to the grape. The evidence 

 which I have thus far gathered shows that the quail do pick at 

 the bunches of grapes, and not alone those bunches which are 

 near or on the ground, but the damage which they cause seems 

 over-estimated. Too often, mutilated bunches of grapes are sup- 

 posed to be due to the presence of quail in the vineyard, but 

 there are other birds and mammals, also, which vary their diet 

 with grapes. I have examined a number of quail's crops and 

 gizzards without finding the presence of grapes, although the 

 birds had been shot near and in vineyards. 



A quail's crop sent to me from lyos Gatos, by Mr. A. H. 

 Hawley, contained twenty-five small grapes; others had a few 

 grapes, seeds, and poison-oak berries. 



Three ver)^ young birds of this species contained, besides a 

 few minute seeds, eighteen, twenty-one, and twenty-seven ants 

 respectively. Ants evidently form a large part of the food of the 

 chicks of quails. 



The food of quail is mainly small seeds, and at times more or 

 less green food is eaten; clover and the leaves of a species of 

 Baccharis seem to be preferred. 



Mourning Dove. Zenaidura macroura.' Small seeds form 

 the principal food of this species according to the crops examined. 

 From one individual collected in Lassen County, I took two- 

 hundred and sixty-seven small pine seeds. 



Red-Shafted Flicker. Colaptes cafer. Beside the insec- 

 tivorous food of Picarian birds, the flickers eat largely of poison- 

 oak berries, and I have also found apple in their stomachs. 



Californian Woodpecker. Melatierpes forjiiicivorus bairdi. 

 This species is more given to a varied diet than usual with wood- 

 peckers. Besides the fact, which is well known now, that they 

 do eat acorns, various grains are also eaten, and I have known 

 one of these birds to be killed by poisoned wheat put out for ground 

 squirrels. Green corn in the field is eaten and the dry kernels 

 stored away in crevices of trees, as is their practice with acorns. 



