HAIRY WOODPECKER. 



15 



any considerable part of his fare. Beside the general resemblance 

 between the two birds there is also a remarkable similarity in their 

 food habits, as shown by tlie stomach contents; the greatest difference 

 being that the Hairy eats a smaller percentage of insects than the 

 Downy. Eighty-two stomachs ha.ve been examined, collected during 

 every month in the year, except February; and coming from 19 States, 

 the District of Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; 

 though most were from the northern United States. The proportion 

 of different kinds of food is as. follows: Animal, 68 percent; vegeta- 

 ble, 31 percent; mineral, 1 percent. The insect material was made 

 up of ants, beetles, caterpillars, bugs, and grasshoppers. Spiders and 

 myriapods also were present. An inspection of the percentages shows 

 that ants are not so highly prized by the Hairy as by the Downy, since 

 they constitute only about 17 percent of the whole food, or one-fourth 

 of the insect portion. Beetles, both larval and adult, stand relatively 

 higher than in the case- of the Downy, comprising 24 percent of all 

 food, or more than one-third of the insect matter. Caterpillars were 

 eaten in greater quantities, both actually and relatively, amounting to 

 21 percent of the whole food, or more. than, one-third of all the insect 

 material. Spiders are well represented, and aggregate nearly 6 per 

 cent of the entire food. Among the miscellaneous insects were a few 

 aphids or plant lice. Grasshoppers were- foun.d in. only 1 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 HairyWoodpecker suc- 

 cessfully peck a hole through the parchment-like covering of the cocoon 

 of a Cecropia moth, devourin-g the contents. On examining more than 

 20 cocoons in a grove of boxelders he found only 2 uninjured. 



The Hairy Woodpecker selects a somewhat larger variety of vege- 

 table food than the Downy, though of the same general 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 

 bound : 



Grain: 



Corn. 

 Fruit : 



Dogwood berries (Corims florida and 



C. asperifolia). 

 Virginia creeper berries {Partheno- 



cissus quinquefolia) . 

 June or service berries (Amelanchier 



canaden8is) . 

 Spice berries (Benzoin benzoin). 

 Sourgum berries {Nyssa aquatica). 

 Wild black cherries (Prunus serotina). 

 Choke cherries (Prunus virginiana). 

 Wild grapes (Vitis eordifolia). 



Fruit — Continued : 



Blackberries or raspberries (Bubaa). 



Pokeberries (Phytolacca decandra). 



Unidentified. 

 Miscellaneous : 



Poison ivy seeds (Rhus radicans). 



Poison sumac seeds (Rhus vernix). 



Harmless sumac seeds (Rhus glabra'). 



Barngrass seeds {CTiamcerapMs. sp?). 



Hazelnuts. 



Seeds unidentiJied. 



Cambium. 



Spruce foliage (Picea). 



Rubbish. 



