136 Birds of Pennsylvania. 



bird as a ''resident, Ireqiieiit ; rare in summer.'' Dr. Turnbull, in his- 

 Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 1809, says, ''common, 

 but more frequent in summer; ilRid mostly on the larger trees of 

 the forest.'' Mr. Gentry, writing in 1877 {Life Histories of Biir/s), 

 observes that he has found a few of these birds in Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania from November until the latter part of April. According to 

 my observation, the Red-bellied Woodpecker occurs in Pennsylvania 

 only as a rare winter visitant. The few birds observed by myself in 

 this locality were exceedingly shy, and when found were seen in tall 

 trees in the forests. 



The stomach contents of three of these birds, captured during the 

 winter months in Chester and Delaware counties. Pa., consisted of 

 black beetles, larvae, fragments of acorns, and a few seeds of wild 

 grapes. 



In various sections of Florida where the Red-bellied Woodpeckers 

 are exceedingly numerous ; in fact, by odds, the most abundant of all 

 the woodi)eckers, the common names of " Orange Sapsucker " and 

 " Orange-borer" are universally applied to them. On making inquiry 

 of farmers and others, I learned that the names were given because 

 these woodpeckers '' sucked the sap " of orange trees and fed on oranges. 

 Supposing these statements were wrongfully made, I, at first, gave 

 but little attention to them. When, however, I visited AVelaka, Palatka, 

 Volusia, Deland and other x)Iaces where numerous orange trees were 

 thriving, I was informed by the orange growers that the Red-bellied 

 Woodpeckers oftentimes destroyed large numbers of oranges when 

 they had matured and were ready for picking; also, that "-they dam- 

 aged the orange trees by boring holes in them and sucking the sap."^ 

 I had but little opportunity of making a careful study of this orange- 

 eating habit, so greatly talked about, owing to the fact that when I 

 first visited these localities it was late in February, or after the oranges 

 had been picked and shipped north. In the month of March, 1885, 1 

 camped a few days at " Bluffton," near Volusia, in an orange grove, 

 owned by Mr. Bird, of New York city. This grove contained about 

 thirty acres of trees, which were loaded with fruit, then being picked 

 for market. Through the kindness of Mr. Bird and his overseer, Mr. 

 Curtis, I collected twenty-six Red-bellied Woodpeckers in this orange 

 grove, eleven of these birds had fed to a more or less extent on oranges. 



Three of the eleven stomachs taken from specimens killed in the 

 forenoon, soon after daylight, contained only orange pulp. Eight 

 stomachs showed, in addition to orange pulp, insects and berries. The 

 stomachs of the remaining fifteen birds contained no traces of oranges, 

 but revealed chiefly insects, a few berries and seeds I examined two 

 dozen or more oranges whicli had been attacked by the Woodpeckers, 

 and found that all had been bored about midway between the stem 



