90 



BIRDS OF A MARYLAND FABM. 



exuding- sap, had oviposited in the holes, and the next generation, 

 having thus gained an entrance, had finished the deadly worlc bcj^un 

 by the sapsuckers. Holes made by birds are sometimes closed by 

 burl-like knobs of wood, but if they remain open the death of the 

 tree from borers is very likely to result. In the case of the trees 

 killed at Marshall Hall, galleries made by borers had honej'^combed 

 the wood beneath the section of bark riddled by the sapsuckers. 



Only 2 stomachs of sapsuckers were collected. They were taken 

 during the middle of November, 1899 and 1900, and contained several 

 dung-beetles {Aphodius) and the fruit of woodbine and red cedar. 



The red-headed woodpecker is not common at Marshall Hall, though 

 it was seen in small numbers every fall. One specimen taken Novem- 



7jtn 



Fig. 32.— Flicker. 



ber 29, 1900, among the swamp oaks south of lots 4 and 6, had eaten gall 

 insects (Cynipidee) and many bits of the woody tissue of the gall. 

 This woodpecker makes about half its food on vegetable matter, 

 largely mast with some berries, and selects for its insect food chiefly 

 beetles, ants, and grasshoppers. It is, on the whole, useful. 



The flicker (fig. 32), though nesting on the farm, was common only 

 during migration, when it was seen in flocks of from 6 to 12. A 

 stomach collected in the middle of November, 1899, contained 10 

 ground-beetles (including Anisodactylus, Harpahis pennsylvcmicus, and 

 Pterostichus sayi), 5 ants, 1 sow bug, 1 black cricket and skin, and 

 20 seeds of woodbine berries. The flicker is somewhat more insectiv- 



