GENERAL REMARKS. 9 



It is a difiBcult task to summarize the results of the investigations 

 herein detailed, more especially if an attempt is made to decide as to 

 the comparative merits or demerits of each particular species. The 

 stomach examinations do not always corroborate the testimony 

 received from observers, and many no doubt will be inclined to think 

 they have seen more harm done by some members of this family of 

 birds than is shown by the data here published. If birds are seen 

 feeding repeatedly on a certain kind of food the inference is that they 

 are particularly fond of it, but the truth may be that they are eating 

 it because they can find nothing they like better, and that a collection 

 of their stomachs from many localities would show only a small per- 

 centage of this particular food. 



In reviewing the results of these investigations and comparing one 

 species with another, without losing sight of the fact that comparative 

 good is not necessarily positive good, it appears that of 7 species 

 considered the Downy Woodpecker is the most beneficial. This is due 

 in part to the great number of insects it eats and in part to the nature 

 of its vegetable food, which is of little value to man. Three-fourths 

 of its food consists of insects, and few of these are useful kinds. Of 

 grain, it eats j)racticaliy none. The greatest sin we can lay at its door 

 ]S the dissemination of poison ivy. 



The Hairy Woodpecker probably ranks next to the Downy in point 

 of usefulness. It eats fewer ants, but a relatively larger percentage 

 of beetles and caterpillars. Its grain-eating record is trifling; 2 

 stomachs taken in September and October contained corn. For fruit, 

 it seeks the forests and swamps, where it finds wild cherries, grapes, 

 and the berries of dogwood and Virginia creeper. It eats fewer seeds 

 of the poison ivy and poison sumac than the Downy. 



The Flicker eats a smaller percentage of insects than either the 

 Downy or the Hairy Woodpecker, but if eating ants is to be considered 

 a virtue, as we have endeavored to show, then surely this bird must be 

 exalted, for three-fourths of all the insects it eats, comprising nearly 

 half of its whole food, are ants. It is accused of eating corn ; how little 

 its stomach yields is shown on another page. Fruit constitutes about 

 one-fourth of its whole fare, but the bird depends on nature and not 

 on man'to furnish the supply. 



Judged by the results of the stomach examinations of the Downy 

 and Hairy Woodpecker and Flicker it would be hard to find three other 

 species of our common birds with fewer harmful qualities. Not one of 

 the trio shows a questionable trait, and they should be protected and 

 encouraged in every possible way. Fortunately, only one, the Flicker, 

 is liable to destruction, and for this bird each farmer and landowner 

 should pass a protective law of his own. 



The Bedhead makes the best showing of the seven species in the 

 kinds of insects eaten. It consumes fewer ants and more beetles than 

 any of the others, in this respect standing at the head, and it has a pro- 

 nounced taste for beetles of very large size. Unfortunately, however, its 



