iSo Recent Literature. \^^. 



' Hypothetical List' is shown bv his inchision of this bird on tlie basis 

 of an individual " seen on several occasions," by himself neai- Mt. Carmel. 

 Subtracting these, reduces the total to the neighborhood of 350, a number 

 which, curiously enough, seems to represent the avifauna of those States 

 whose birds have been most thoroughly studied, without regard to their 

 inland or seaboard position. 



Ornithologists are to be congratulated on the completion of this work. 

 When Part II (in which we have no doubt Professor Forbes will treat 

 the subject economically as thoroughly as Mr. Ridgway has systematically) 

 appears the inhabitants of Illinois may justly claim to be more enlight- 

 ened ornithologically than the residents of any other State in the Union. 

 — F. M. C. 



The Food Habits of Woodpeckers. — Bulletin No. 7' of the Division 

 of Ornithology and Mammalogy, U. S. Department of Agriculture, is 

 devoted to the food habits of North American Woodpeckers. It consists 

 of two papers, the first and principal one being by Prof. F. E. L. Beal, 

 on the 'Food of Woodpeckers' (pp. 7-33), and the other (pp. 35-39 and 

 pll. i-iii) by Mr. F. A. Lucas on the 'Tongues of Woodpeckers,' in their 

 relation to the character of the food. 



"The present paper," says Mr. Beal, " is merely a preliminary report, 

 based on the examination of 679 stomachs of Woodpeckers, and repre- 

 senting only 7 species — all from the eastern United States. These 

 species are the Downy Woodpecker {Dryohates pubescc7is), the Hairy 

 Woodpecker (Z?. villosus), the Flicker or Golden-winged Woodpecker 

 {Colaptes auratus), the Red-headed Woodpecker {^Melanerpcs erythro- 

 cephalus), the Red-bellied Woodpecker {Melaiicrpes carolitms), the 

 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker {Sp/iyrapicus varitis), and the Great 

 Pileated Woodpecker {Ceophlccus pileatus). Examination of their 

 stomachs shows that the percentage of animal food (consisting almost 

 entirely of insects) is greatest in the Downy, and grades down through 

 the Hairy, Flicker, Pileated, Redhead, and Yellow-bellied to the Red- 

 bellied, which takes the smallest quantity of insects." 



The Downy Woodpecker is considered to be the most beneficial, and 

 the Hairv Woodpecker and the Flicker the next so, these three species 

 being considered as among the least harmful of our common birds. 

 The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is the only species of the seven possess- 

 ing really harmful qualities, which may, in certain localities, render it 

 detrimental to fruit trees, through its fondness for sap and the inner 



' Preliminary Report on the Food of Woodpeckers. By F. E. L. Beal, 

 Assistant Ornithologist. — The Tongues of Woodpeckers. By F. A. Lucas, 

 Curator, Department Comparative Anatomy, U. S. National Museum. = 

 Bulletin No. 7, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology 

 and Mammalogy. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895. ^^'°» 

 pp. 1-44, pll. i-iii. Frontispiece, and 4 cuts in the text. 



