20 THE FOOD OF WOODPECKEKS. 



observers, however, have testified that some damage is done. T. J. 

 Parrish, of Cooke County, Tex., states that the Yellow-hammers and 

 small woodpeckers feed on peaches, plums, grapes, and cherries. 



Miscellaneous vegetable substances aggregate a little more than 10 

 percent of the whole food of this bird, and like the fruit list, consist 

 of a variety of elements. Poison ivy seeds were found in 20 stomachs, 

 poison sumac in 5, and bayberries in 14. All these seeds are coated 

 with a white substance resembling wax, and while the quantity is small 

 compared with the size of the seeds, it is probably rich in nutritive 

 properties, for the seeds are a favorite article of winter diet with many 

 birds. A number of weed seeds were found, and if eaten in consider- 

 able quantities would be a great argument in the bird's favor, but 

 unfortunately they occurred in only one or two stomachs each, and so 

 may be considered as merely picked up experimentally in default of 

 something better. It is possible that a series of stomachs taken in the 

 winter months might show a larger percentage, as has been observed 

 in the case of other species of birds, including at least 2 woodpeckers. 

 The mineral element of the stomach contents is larger in the Flicker 

 than any of the others, forming 5 percent of the whole, and consisting 

 principally of fine sand. It was noticed that the greatest quantity was 

 present in stomachs containing ants, showing that the sand was picked 

 up accidentally in gathering the ants from their hillocks. 



RED-HEADSD WOODPECKER. 



(Melanerpes eryihrocephalus.) 



The handsome Redhead inhabits suitable localities throughout the 

 United States east of the Eocky Mountains, but is only casual in New 

 England. He is a familiar bird on telegraph poles and fence posts, 

 and seems to prefer these rather unpicturesque objects to other appar- 

 ently more fruitful hunting grounds. He feeds largely on insects found 

 upon these bare surfaces, but the vegetable matter in his stomach 

 shows that he forages in other pastures also. 



Fifty years ago Giraud stated that on Long Island the Eedheaded 

 Woodpecker arrives early in April, and during the spring "subsists 

 chiefly on insects. In the summer it frequents the fruit trees, ripe 

 cherries and pears seeming to be a favorite repast. In the fall it feeds 

 on berries and acorns, the latter at this season forming a large portion 

 of its food." 1 



In its fondness for mast it resembles its relative, the California Wood- 

 pecker, whose habit of storing acorns is one of its most conspicuous 

 traits. In the northern part of its range, whero the oak is replaced by the 

 beech, the Eedhead makes the beechnut its principal food. Dr. C. Hart 



1 Birds of Long Island, by J. P. Girand, jr., 1844, p. 180. 



