No. 3. ] 



Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes. 



157 



than one-third of all the insect material. Spiders are well repre- 

 sented, and aggregate nearly 6 per cent, of the entire food. Among 

 the miscellaneous insects were a few aphids or plant lice. Grass- 

 hoppers were found in only i stomach, but Professor Aughey found 

 them in 4 out of 6 stomachs examined by him in Nebraska. 



Mr. F. M. Webster states that he has seen a Hairy Woodpecker 

 successfully peck a hole through the parchment-like covering of 

 the cocoon of a Cecropia moth, devouring the contents. On examin- 

 ing more than 20 cocoons in grove of boxelders he found only 2 

 uninjured. 



The Hairy Woodpecker selects a somewhat larger variety of 

 vegetable food than the Downy, though of the same genera, 

 character. The following list of fruits and seeds found in the 

 stomachs does not indicate that the bird visits orchards and gardens 

 for fruit so much as swamps and thickets, where wild grapes, 

 woodbine, and dogwood abound. 

 Grain— - Fruit — contd. 



Corn. 



Fruit— 



Dogwood berries {Cornus fiorida 



and C. asp erif olio). 

 Virginia creeper berries (Partheno 



cissus quinque folia). 

 June or . service berries (Amelan- 



chier canadensis). 

 Spice berries (Benzoin benzoin). 

 Sourgum berries {Nyssa aquatica). 

 Wila black cherries {Prunus sero- 



tinn). 

 Choke cherries, {Prunus virgini- 



and) 



Black-berries or rasp-berries 



{Fubus). 

 Pokeberries, {Phytolacca decandra). 

 Unidentified. 

 Miscellaneous — 



Poison ivy seeds ( RIius vadicans). 

 Poison sumac seeds {Rhus vernix)* 

 Harmless sumac seeds {Rhus 



glabra). 

 Barngrass seeds {Ch ameer aphi 



sp.?). 

 Hazelnuts. 

 Seeds, unidentified. 

 Cambium. 



Spruce foliage {Picea). 

 Rubbish. 



Wild grapes {Vitis cordifolia). 



The only grain discovered was corn, which was found in two 

 stomachs. In one case it was green corn in the milk, but this is 

 hardly sufficient to prove the habit of eating corn. Fruit aggregates 

 a little more than 1 1 per cent, of the food of the species, and is 

 fairly distributed among all the items in the above list. Since 

 blackberries are the only kind of cultivated fruit found in the 

 stomachs, and since they grow wild in abundance, it is evident that 

 the Hairy Woodpecker does not at present cause any great damage 

 by his fruit-eating habits. The substances in the miscellaneous list 

 form about 1 1 per cent, of the whole food, and are practically 

 of the same character as in the case of the Downy. Poison 



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