62 



FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



known as poison ivy or poison oak. They are probably eaten in 

 every month, though the one stomach taken in May did not contain 

 any. They were found in 51 stomachs and formed a staple article of 

 diet in all the cooler months, and in December amounted to more 

 than half the food. It is in the distribution of these seeds, if any- 

 where, that the flickers do harm. Seeds of the nonpoisonous Rhuses 

 (sumac) and of various weeds were eaten occasionally but not in 

 great quantities. Mast in the shape of acorns was found in 16 stom- 

 achs, and is probably very acceptable in the absence of better food. 

 The following fruits and seeds were identified : 



Pigweed (Amaranthus sp.). 

 Purslane (Portulaca sp.). 

 Gooseberry (Ribes menziesi}. 

 Bur clover (Medieago denticulatum) . 

 Filaree (Erodium cicutarium). 

 Poison ivy (Rhus radicans}. 

 Poison ivy (Rhus aromatica). 

 Poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) . 



Sumac (Rhus sp.). 



Pepper berry (Schinus molle). 



Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia} . 



Dogwood ( Cornus pubescens) . 



Elder (Sambucus glauca). 



Sunflower (Helianthus sp.). 



Star thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa). 



Bur thistle (Centaurea melitensis). 



Summary. The above analysis of the food shows that the farmer 

 and horticulturist have little to fear from the red-shafted flicker. 

 In its animal diet it does very little harm, and it consumes no more 

 of the products of husbandry than it is entitled to. Its greatest 

 fault is distributing seeds of the poisonous Rhuses, a sin which it shares 

 with so many other birds that there is no occasion for invidious 

 comparisons. 



IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 



( Campephilus principalis . ) 



The ivory-billed is the largest woodpecker inhabiting the United 

 States. Unfortunately, it appears to be rapidly becoming extinct. 

 It originally occupied all the heavily wooded bottom lands from 

 eastern Texas east to the Atlantic and from southern Indiana and 

 Illinois south to the Gulf. At present it is confined to the lower 

 Mississippi Valley and Gulf States and is nowhere numerous. 



Only two stomachs of this species have been available for exami- 

 nation. The contents of these are discussed in detail because of 

 the interest that attached to this magnificent but vanishing bird 

 rather than its present economic importance. One stomach con- 

 tained 32 and the other 20 of the wood-boring cerambycid Iarva3, 

 which live by boring into trees. These constituted 37.5 per cent of 

 the whole food. The remainder of the animal food consisted of 

 engraver beetles (Scolytidse) found in one stomach. Of these, three 

 species were identified Tomicus avulsus, T. cattigmpTius, and T. 

 grandicollis. The total animal food amounted to 38.5 per cent. 



