BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



a sort of toboggan-cap pulled down over his head and 

 tucked into his black coat and white vest-front. 



Many stories and legends are told of this woodpecker. 

 He is the delight of children in localities where he is to 

 be found. I remember how I used to look for the red 

 hood and the black shawl worn over a white dress, espe- 

 cially noticeable in flight. I never tired of watching one 

 of these birds approach his nest in a tall dead tree with 

 food in his mouth. At a signal from him, his wife's red 

 head would appear in the doorway. She would emerge; 

 he would then enter and remain with the children until 

 her return. 



Redheads have not been popular with farmers, who 

 have accused them of various crimes. They have been 

 caught eating small fruit and corn on the ear, destroying 

 both the eggs and young of other birds, and boring holes 

 in telegraph-poles in which to build their nests. While 

 individuals may be guilty of such misdemeanors, the red- 

 heads are probably neither so black nor so gory, except 

 in plumage, as they are painted. 



These woodpeckers are not such persistent destroyers 

 of insects as others of their family. They have a decided 

 preference for beetles, but eat fewer ants and larvae than 

 do the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers. They are excep- 

 tionally fond of vegetable food; their preference for beech- 

 nuts is very great. Dr. C. Hart Merriam states that in 

 northern New York, where the redhead is one of the com- 

 monest woodpeckers, it subsists almost exclusively on 

 beechnuts during the fall and winter, even pecking the 

 green nuts before they are ripe and while the trees are 

 still covered with leaves. He has shown that these wood- 

 peckers invariably remain throughout the winter after 



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