RED-HEADED WOODPECKER 199 



in 44 stomachs to an average amount of 24 percent of the contents of those 

 that contained them, or 10 percent of all. The fact that 43 percent of all 

 the birds taken had eaten these beetles, some of them to the extent of 16 indi- 

 viduals, shows a decided fondness for these insects, and taken with the fact 

 that 5 stomachs contained Cicindelids or tiger beetles forms a rather strong 

 indictment against the bird. 



The vegetable food includes corn, dogwood berries, huckleberries, 

 strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, mulberries, elderberries, wild 

 black cherries, choke cherries, cultivated cherries, wild grapes, apples, 

 pears, various seeds, acorns, and beechnuts. Prof. Beal (1895) 

 reports that — 



corn was found in 17 stomachs, collected from May to September, inclusive, and 

 amounted to more than 7 percent of all the food. While it seems to be eaten 

 in any condition, that taken in the late summer was in the milk, and evidently 

 picked from standing ears. This * * * corroborates some of the testimony 

 received, and indicates that the Redhead, if sufl3ciently abundant, might do 

 considerable damage to the growing crop, particularly if other food was not 

 at hand. WhUe the fruit list is not so long as in the case of the Flicker, 

 it includes more kinds that are, or may be, cultivated ; and the quantity found 

 in the stomachs, a little more than 33 percent of all the food, is greater than 

 in any of the others. Strawberries were found in 1 stomach, blackberries or 

 raspberries in 15, cultivated cherries in 2, apples in 4, and pears in 6. Fruit 

 pulp was found in 33 stomachs, and it is almost certain that a large part 

 of this was obtained from some of the larger cultivated varieties. Seeds were 

 found in but few stomachs, and only a small number in each. 



Audubon (1842) gives this woodpecker a rather bad name, saying: 



I would not recommend to anyone to trust their fruit to the led-heads; for 

 they not only feed on all kinds as they ripen, but destroy an immense quantity 

 besides. No sooner are the cherries seen to redden, than these birds attack them. 

 * * * Trees of this kind are stripped clean by them. * * * i may safely 

 assert that a hundred have been shot upon a single cherry-tree in one day, * * * 

 They have another bad habit, which is that of sucking the eggs of small birds. 

 For this purpose, they frequently try to enter the boxes of the Martins or 

 Bluebirds, as well as the pigeon-houses, and are often successful. The corn, 

 as it ripens, is laid bare by their bill, when they feed on the top parts of the 

 ear, and leave the rest either to the Grakles or the Squirrels, or stUl worse, to 

 decay, after a shower has fallen upon it. 



Bendire (1895) adds to the evidence against this gay villain. He 

 personally saw a red-headed woodpecker rifle a nest of a red-shafted 

 flicker and carry off an egg. He quotes from one observer who had 

 seen one of these woodpeckers clean out a nest of young of the tufted 

 titmouse, and from another who had seen one carrying off a freshly 

 killed young robin. W. G. Smith wrote to him from Colorado : "The 

 red-headed woodpecker is a common summer resident in the lower 

 foothills along the eastern slopes of the Eocky Mountains in this 

 State, and I consider it a veritable butcher among our nuthatches and 

 chickadees, driving every one away from its nesting sites, and woe 

 to the bird that this villain can reach. It destroys both eggs and 



