RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 37 



The following interesting observation was made by Dr. G. S. Agers- 

 borg, of Vermilion, S. Dak. i 1 



Last spring, in opening a good many birds of this species with the object of ascer- 

 taining their principal food, I found in their stomachs nothing but young grass- 

 hoppers. One of them, which had its headquarters near my house, was observed 

 making frequent visits to an old oak post, and on examining it I found a large crack 

 where the woodpecker had inserted about 100 grasshoppers of all sizes (for future 

 use, as later observation proved), which were put in without killing them, but they 

 were so firmly wedged in the crack that they in vain tried to get free. I told this to 

 a couple of farmers, and found that they had also seen the same thing, and showed 

 me posts which were used for the same purpose. Later in the season the wood- 

 pecker whose station was near my house commenced to use his stores, and to-day 

 (February 10) there are only a few shriveled-up grasshoppers left. 



The late Mr. Charles Aldrich, of Webster City, Iowa, states that 

 he saw a red-headed woodpecker catching grasshoppers on the prairie 

 half a mile from timber. In Nebraska grasshoppers were found in 

 4 out of 6 stomachs examined by Prof. Samuel Aughey. 



Besides taking fruit and grain, this woodpecker has been accused 

 of destroying the eggs of other birds and even of killing the young; 

 and from Florida comes a report that it enters poultry houses and 

 sucks the eggs of domestic fowls. Mr. Charles Aldrich, of Webster 

 City, Iowa, says that a red-headed woodpecker was seen to kill a 

 duckling with a single blow on the head, and then to peck out and 

 eat the brains. 2 In view of such testimony, remains of eggs and 

 young birds were carefully looked for in the stomachs examined, but 

 pieces of eggshell were found in only 4. 



A very unusual trait has been recorded by Dr. Howard Jones, of 

 Circleville, Ohio. He has seen the red-headed woodpecker steal the 

 eggs of eaves swallows, and in cases where the necks of the nests 

 were so long that the eggs were out of reach, the woodpecker made 

 a hole in the walls of the nest and so obtained the contents. In a 

 colony of swallows containing dozens of nests, not a single brood of 

 young was raised. One of the woodpeckers also began to prey upon 

 hens' eggs, and was finally captured in the act of robbing the nest of a 

 sitting hen. 3 



The redhead has been accused of doing considerable damage to 

 fruit and grain, and both charges are fairly well sustained. In 

 northern New York Dr. Merriam has seen it peck into apples on the 

 tree, and has several times seen it feed on chokecherries (Prunus 

 virginiana). 



Mr. August Jahn, of Pope County, Ark., writes that it has damaged 

 his corn to the amount of $10 or $15, and Dr. J. R. Mathers, of Upshur 

 County, W. Va., says that the same species feeds on cherries, straw- 

 berries, raspberries, and blackberries, and that its depredations are 



1 Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club. Ill, 97. 1878. 



2 Am. Nat., VI, 308, May, 1877. 



3 Ornithologist and Oologist, VIII, 56, 1883. 



