No. 3.] Reprints and Miscellaneous Notes, 173 



The quantity of fruit found in the stomachs formed 26 per cent, 

 of the entire food, but the only kinds identified that might possibly 

 be cultivated were blackberries and raspberries, and these were in 

 only two stomachs. Unidentifiable fruit pulp was found in 12 

 stomachs. Miscellaneous seeds to the amount of 5 per cent, complete 

 the list of substances eaten by this species. Poison ivy seeds were 

 found in only one stomach, and most of the other things were dis- 

 tributed in about the same proportion. 



Dr. Merriam informs me that in the fall in northern New York 

 the Sap-suckers feed on ripening beechnuts, the small branches 

 bending low with the weight of the birds while picking the tender 

 nuts. 



GREAT PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



[Ceophlaeus pileatus.) 



Excepting the Ivory Bill this is the largest woodpecker in the 

 United States, where it inhabits most of the heavily-wooded districts. 

 It is shy and retiring, seldom appearing outside of the forests, and 

 difficult to approach even in its favourite haunts. Its large size, 

 loud voice, and habit of hammering upon dead trees render it con- 

 spicuous. Its strength is marvellous, and one unacquainted with it 

 can scarcely credit a bird with such power of destruction as is some- 

 times shown by a stump or dead trunk on which it has operated for 

 ants or boring larvae. 



Only 23 stomachs of the Pileated Woodpecker have been 

 obtained; all taken in the months of October, November, December, 

 and January, and collected from six states, the Districts of Columbia 

 and Canada (including New Brunswick). Fifty-one per cent, of the 

 contents of these stomachs consisted of animal matter or insects ; 

 49 per cent, of vegetable matter. The insects were principally ants 

 and beetles, with a few of some other orders. The ants were mostly 

 of the larger species that live in decaying wood. A large proportion 

 of the beetles were in the larval form, and all were of the wood- 

 boring species. There were also a few caterpillars, also wood- 

 borers, a few plant lice, several cockroaches, of the species that live 

 under the bark of dead trees, a few white ants, and a few flies, with 

 one spider. 



The gizzard of a Pileated Woodpecker, shot by Dr. Merriam in 

 the Adirondacks, April 25, 1882, contained hundreds of large ants 



