No. 3.] Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes 151 



the bark of many trees would be unpalatable, an immense number 

 of birds would be required to do serious damage. But with fruit 

 trees the case is different. Their number is limited, and there are 

 no superfluous ones as in the forest. In localities where the bird is 

 abundant considerable harm may be done to apple trees, which 

 appear to be pleasing to its taste. 



The Pileated Woodpecker is more exclusively a forest bird than 

 any of the others, and its food consists of such elements as the woods 

 afford, particularly the larvae of wood-boring beetles and wild fruits. 

 The species is emphatically a conservator of the forests. 



In describing the stomach contents of the different woodpeckers 

 a quantity of material is classed under the term " rubbish." The 

 great bulk of this stuff is rotten wood and bark, picked up in digging 

 or insects in decayed timber, and apparently swallowed accidentally 

 with the food. If the six woodpeckers which had eaten rotten wood 

 are compared with respect to the quantity of this material contained 

 in the stomachs, it is found that the Hairy Woodpecker stands at the 

 head with 8 per cent., the Downy next with 5, the Flicker with 3, the 

 Red-head and Yellow-belHed with 1 per cent, each, and the Pileated 

 with only a trace. From this it appears that the Hairy Woodpecker 

 is preeminently a woodpecker^ while the Red-head and Yellow-bellied 

 do much less of this kind of work. The difference in habit is obvious 

 to the most casual observer. The Red-head is ordinarily seen upon 

 a fence post or telegraph pole hunting for insects that alight on these 

 exposed surfaces, and watching for others that fly near enough to 

 be captured in mid-air. Unlike other wood-peckers, he is seldom 

 seen digging at a rotten branch except in spring, when he prepares 

 a home for the family he intends to rear. The Yellow-bellied, as 

 will be shown presently, does much wood (or bark) pecking, but of 

 another kind. 



The following tables show the food percentages of the stomachs 

 examined :— 



