No. 3.] Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes. 155 



when the bird had flown it was found that wherever the bark had 

 been injured the young larvae of a wood-eating beetle bad been 

 snugly coiled underneath and had been destroyed by the bird." 1 



In the matter of vegetable diet, the taste of the Downy Wood- 

 pecker is varied, prompting him to eat a little of a good many things 

 rather than a large quantity of any one. 



The following is a list of the vegetable substances that were 

 identified : — 



MiSC ELLANEOUS — 



Poison ivy seeds (Rhus radicans). 

 Poison sumac seeds {Rhus vernix). 

 Harmless sumac seeds {Rhus 



sp. f). 

 Mullein seeds ( Verbascum thap- 



sus). 

 Hornbeam seeds {Ostrya virgi- 



niana) , 

 Nut, unidentified. 

 Flower petals and buds. 

 Galls. 

 Cambium. 

 Seeds, unidentified. 

 Rubbish. 



Grain — 



Indeterminable. 



Fruit — 



Dogwood berries {Cornus fiorida), 



{C. alternifolia) and {C. asperi- 



folia). 

 Virginia creeper berries ( Partkeno- 



cissus ^ quinquefoUd). 

 June or service berries (Amelan- 



chier canadensis). 

 Strawberries {Fragarid). 

 Pokeberries {Phytolacca decandra). 

 Apples. 

 Unidentified. 



Material believed to be fragments of grain was found in two 

 stomachs, but the quantity was so small that it may be dismissed 

 without further comment. Fruit is by far the largest item of 

 vegetable diet, forming one-tenth of the whole food. Strawberry 

 seeds were found in only one stomach, apple pulp was supposed to be 

 identified in two, and the other varieties mentioned in the table were 

 distributed in about the same proportion ; so that no great economic 

 interest can attach to this part of the birds' diet. The seeds and 

 other things included under the head " Miscellaneous " constitute 

 about one-twelfth of the total food. Seeds of poison ivy were found 

 in twenty stomachs and poison sumac in one. These plants, far 

 from being harmful to the birds, seem to form a very agreeable 

 article of diet, and are eaten by many species. Unfortunately these 

 seeds are protected by a hard, horny covering which successfully 

 resists the action of the stomach, so that they pass through the 

 alimentary canal uninjured. It is probable that we owe to birds, 

 more than any other agency, the presence of these noxious plants 

 beside fences, copses, and hedge rows. The remaining vegetable 

 food, about 5 per cent, was classed as rubbish, and will be discussed 

 in connection with some of the other woodpeckers. 



1 United States Agiicultural Report for 1865-1866, pp. 37 and 38. 



2 Commonly called Ampetopsis. See (List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta) 

 prepared by a committee of the Botanical Club of the A, A. A. S., 1S93-94, which has been 

 followed in all questions of botanical nom6nclatuie. 



