42 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



in 90 stomachs, and one contained notliing else. Tliej- have a 

 resemblance to the woody granules in pear pulp, but are larger and 

 more irregular. It is possible that they are derived from the pulp 

 of some wild fruit. If so, their percentage should be added to the 

 fruit pulp. They have been found in the food of other woodpeckers, 

 but in comparatively small quantities. 



The following fruits and seeds were identified : 



Bristly greenbrier {Smilax bona-nox). Frost grape ( Vitis cordifolia). 



Mulberry (J/o)-i(.s rafera). AA'oodbine {Parthenodssus quinquefolia) . 



Dock [Rumex sp.). Flowering dogwood (Comus florida) . 



Lambs quarters (C/(enoporfm7naZ6um). Rough-leaved dogwood {Comus asperi- 



Shadbush or service berry {Amelanchier folia). 



Panicled dogwood {Comus candidisdma). 



Bird cherry {Frunus pennsylvanicd) . Sour gum {Nyssa sylvatica). 



Chokecherry {Prunus virginiana). Huckleberry {Gaylu^sacia sp.). 



Black cherry {Prunus serotina). Black nightshads {Solanum nigrum). 



Dwarf sumac {Rhus copallina). Black elderberry {Sambucus canadensis). 



Smooth sumac {Rhus glabra). Red elderberry {Sambucus pubens). 



Poison ivy {Rhu^ radicans). Ragweed {Ambrosia sp.). 

 Fox grape ( Vitis vulpina). 



Summary. — No species of woodpecker in this country, with the 

 possible e.xception of the yellow-bellied sapsucker {SpJiyrapicus 

 varius), has been the subject of so much adverse criticism as the red- 

 head. It has been accused of eating nearly every variety of culti- 

 vated fruit from strawberries to oranges, of pecking corn from the 

 ear, of eating the eggs of poultry and pigeons, of pecking open the 

 skulls and devouring the brains of young poultry, and of destroying 

 the eggs or young of eaves swallows and other birds. These accusa- 

 tions are well grounded, but the habits are probably only local. 

 These reports have been received from hundreds of localities, but in 

 thousands of other places where the bird abounds no such acts have 

 been observed. Stomach examination confirms to some extent the 

 corn-eating habit, and to a less degree the fruit-eating, but fails 

 entirely to show that the bird habitually eats young birds or eggs.' 

 Where this bird has done appreciable harm, it has probably been due 

 to new and unusual conditions likely to be temporary. In its animal 

 food the redhead does a little harm theoretically by its destruction 

 of predatory beetles, but the harmful species eaten are enough to 

 balance this. On the whole, there seems to be no reason to condemn 

 this woodpecker except under very unusual conditions, and the man 

 who claims to have killed 527 of them in four years did himself and 

 neighbors a very doubtful service. 



1 Eggshells have been found in some stomachs of nearly every species of bird yet examined by the writer. 

 They are undoubtedly, in most cases, old shells eaten for the lime. 



