842 Keport of State Geologist. 



In August they often begin to disappear from their accustomed 

 places. Mr. V. H. Bamett informs me that on the night of October 

 30, 1897, at 8:15 p. m., he heard the Eed-headed "Woodpecker and 

 some warblers flying south. 



The Eed-headed Woodpecker has the greatest range of food of our 

 species. At times its chief food is fruit; for another period it may be ■ 

 chiefly insects; again, it will live on nuts and cereals. Of 101 

 stomachs reported upon by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, 50 per cent, contained animal matter; 47 per cent, vegetable 

 matter; 3 per cent, mineral matter. The animal matter was insects, 

 of which there were found ants, wasps, beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, 

 moths, caterpillars, spiders, and mjrriapods. Ants amounted to about 

 11 per cent.; beetles, nearly one-third, and grasshoppers and crickets, 

 6 per cent. Seventeen, collected from May to September, had eaten 

 com, one had eaten strawberries; 15, blackberries, raspberries; 2, culti- 

 vated cherries; 4, apples; 6, pears (Beal, Bulletin No. 7, Div. 0. and 

 M., pp. 34, 25). Prof. Forbes found that of these birds he examined, 

 32 per cent, of their food was canker worms (Eep. Mich. Hort. Soc, 

 1881, p. 204). This Woodpecker seems to be able to adapt itself to 

 any circumstances. It has been accused of robbing birds of their eggs, 

 and I have seen it catching insects after the manner of a flycatcher. 

 While it eats some fruit, except berries and cherries, it eats too small 

 an amount to amount to much. On the contrary, its insect-eating, 

 in which it destroys many large beetles and quantities of grasshoppers, 

 makes it a very beneficial bird ordinarily. 



Besides, from the variety of its foods, it is a valuable factor in a 

 contest with any unusual increase of old or the sudden appearance of 

 new insect foes. 



Subgenus Cbnturds Swuinson. 



*165. (409). Melanerpes carolinus (Linn.). 



Red-bellied Woodpecker. 



Synonyms, Guinea Woodpeckek, Zebka Woodpecker, Carolina Woodpeckek, 

 Checkered Woodpecker. 



Adult Male. — Above, crown and nape, scarlet; back and wings, ex- 

 cept larger quills, regularly barred with black and white; primaries 

 and secondaries, chiefly black, the former mostly white at base, the 

 latter spotted with white; rump, chiefly white; sides of head and 

 under parts, grayish-white, sometimes with yellowish tinge; beUy, 

 wnsliprl with reddish: outer tail feathers, black and white barred; 



