FOOD OP SOME WELL-KNOWN BIEDS. 



Most of them are taken in spring and summer and none in winter. 

 A few other insects and spiders amount to less than 1 per cent for 

 each species and make up the remainder of the animal food. 



Vegetable food. — The vegetable food of both species may be in- 

 cluded in four items: Fruit, mast, cambium, and rubbish. Fruit 

 skins were found in only 1 stomach of americanus and mast in but 

 1 of arcticus. Cambium, or the inner bark of trees, appeared in 10 

 stomachs gf arcticus and 8 of americanus. Rubbish, principally 

 rotten wood, occurred in 9 stomachs. 



Summary. — The foregoing discussion of the food of the two species 

 of Picoides shows that these birds act as " conservators of the forest " 

 in the strongest sense, as three-fourths of their food consists of the 

 direct enemies of forest trees. It is unfortunate that in most places 

 three-toed woodpeckers are not very nu- 

 merous, and for this reason they should be. 

 protected and encouraged in every way ma 

 possible. — F. E. L. B. ^j^ 



CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER. 



(Melanerpes formicivorus iairdi.) 



The California woodpecker (fig. 2) is 

 distributed throughout most of the oak- 

 covered mountain and foothill region of 

 California, northern Lower California, 

 and western Oregon. It lives generally 

 wherever large oaks are abundant, and 

 from these it gets much of its living. A 

 peculiar habit has attracted much atten- 

 tion among nonscientific observers — that 

 of drilling holes in tree trunks or large 

 branches, in each of which is placed an 

 acorn or other nut. Where this bird is 

 abundant all dead trunks or branches of 

 any size, and many live ones, are punctured with these holes, fre- 

 quently less than an inch apart. When trees in the proper condition 

 are not numerous enough it attacks buildings and drills holes in the 

 cornices of houses or spires of churches; also it bores into telephone 

 and telegraph poles and fence posts. 



For the laboratory investigation of the food of the California wood- 

 pecker 84 stomachs were available. The food was found to consist 

 of 22.59 per cent of animal matter to 77.41 per cent of vegetable. 



Animal food. — Beetles constitute the smallest item of the animal 

 food. They amount to less than 3 per cent and are distributed among 

 several families, with no preference shown for any one. In July, 

 the only month in which they are at all prominent, they reach 14.76 



506 



Fig. 2. — California woodpecker. 



