No. 3.3 Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes. 167 



that the Redhead, if sufficiently abundant, might do considerable 

 damage to the growing crop particularly if other food was not at 

 hand. While the fruit list is not so Jong as in the case of the Flicker, 

 it includes more kinds that are, or may be, cultivated ; and the 

 quantity found in the stomachs, a little more than 33 per cent, of 

 all the food, is greater than in any of the others. Strawberries 

 were found in i stomach, blackberries or raspberries in 15, cultivated 

 cherries in 2, apples in 4, and pears in 6. Fruit pulp was found in 33 

 stomachs, and it is almost certain that a large part of this was obtained 

 from some of the larger cultivated varieties. Seeds were found in 

 but few stomachs, and only a small number in each. 



RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



{Melanerpes carolinus.) 



The Rea-bellied Woodpecker is a more southern species than any 

 of the others treated in this bulletin. It is not known to breed norm 

 of the Carolinian fauna, and is abundant in Florida and the Gulf 

 States. Curiously enough it sometimes migrates north o its breed- 

 ing range to spend the winter. 



Only 22 stomachs of this species have been obtained by the divi- 

 sion. These were collected in nine States, ranging from Florida to 

 Michigan and from Maryland to Kansas, and in every month, except 

 April, June, and July. An examination of their stomachs shows 

 animal matter (insects) 26 per cent, and vegetable matter 74 per 

 cent. A small quantity of gravel was found in seven stomachs, but was 

 not reckoned as food. Ants were found in 14 stomachs, and 

 amounted to ii percent, of the whole food. Adult beetles stand 

 next in importance, aggregating 7 per cent, of all food, while larval 

 beetles only reach 3 per cent. Caterpillars had been taken by only 

 two birds, but they had eaten so many that they amounted to 4 per 

 cent, of the whole food. The remaining animal food is made up of 

 small quantities of bugs {Hemiptera), crickets {Orthoptera), and 

 spiders, with a few bones of a small tree frog, found in one stomach 

 taken in Florida. 



Dr. B. H. Warren states that the stomachs of three Red-belHed 

 Woodpeckers captured in winter in Chester and Delaware counties 

 Pa., contained black beetles, larvae, fragments of acorns, and a few seeds 

 of wild grapes. The stomachs of eight adults from the St. John's 

 River, Florida, contained red seeds of two species of palmetto, but no 



¥ 



