168 BULLETIN 17 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



but with even less red in the head ; the forehead and most of the crown 

 are grayish brown, which invades the red posterior portion of the 

 crown; and there is no red in the mahir region. Audubon (1842) 

 says that the bill of tlie young bird is considerably longer than that 

 of the adult. 



The Juvenal plumage is apparently worn for only a short time, dur- 

 ing the summer and early fall ; I have not been able to detect it beyond 

 August; this is followed by a prolonged molt into a first winter 

 plumage, which is scarcely distinguishable from that of the adult. 

 Adults have a complete molt between June and September. 



Food. — The food of the southern pileated woodpecker is not essen- 

 tially different from that of the other races of the species, with due 

 allowance for the difference in environment. Prof. F. E. L. Beal 

 (1895) says: "Six stomachs, collected by Dr. B. H. Warren on the St. 

 Johns River in Florida, contained numerous palmetto ants {Canipo- 

 notus escuriens), and remains of other ants, several larvae of a Prionid 

 beetle {Orthosoma hrunnea), numerous builder ants {Cremastog aster 

 lineolata)^ one larva of Xylotrechus, and one pupa of the white 

 ant {T erines) y 



George Finlay Simmons (1925) says that in Texas it "feeds on 

 ants, particularly about decayed stumps ; the eggs, larvae, and adults 

 of wood-boring insects, particularly beetles; and on berries, acorns, 

 nuts, and wild grapes. When digging for insects beneath the bark 

 or in the wood of dead limbs or trunks of trees, it pounds steadily 

 away, head swinging back in an impossible arc and driving straight 

 down with the force of a blacksmith's sledge, chips flying every stroke 

 or two ; by employing a wrenching stroke with its chisel -bill, it knocks 

 three-inch, four-inch, or even six-inch chips from the tree and causes 

 them to fly for some distance." 



Arthur H. Howell (1924) says that in Alabama its food "consists 

 mainly of ants, beetles, and wild fruits and berries, including sour 

 gum, tupelo gum, dogwood, persimmon, frost grape, holly, poison 

 ivy, sumac, and hackberry." 



Behavior. — The pileated woodpecker is ordinarily a wild, shy bird 

 of the wilderness forests, though in some places it is said to be quite 

 unsuspicious, where perhaps it has not yet learned to fear man, or 

 where familiarity has taught it to trust him. Its flight is rather slow, 

 but vigorous and usually direct, after the manner of a crow; at times, 

 however, in short swings, it adopts the bounding flight, so common 

 to many wood])eckers. It is an adept at keeping out of sight behind a 

 tree trunk and will lead a hunter a long chase by flying from tree 

 to tree well in advance of him. When shot dead, it may cling for 

 some time to the branch or trunk, until its muscles relax and allow it 

 to fall. If wounded, it keeps up a constant chatter while falling 

 and will not become quiet while life remains ; a wounded bird should 



