54 



FOOD OF WOODPECKEES OF UNITED STATES. 



Animal food. — Predaceous ground beetles (Carabidse) form a small 

 but very constant element of the flicker's food. Among those eaten 

 are some of the larger and more predatory genera, such as Calosoma, 

 Scarites, and PterosticJius. The total amount eaten in the year is 

 only 1.62 per cent of the food, and in August, the month of greatest 

 consumption, it rises to only 3.79 per cent. Other beetles are found 

 in the food of every month, but in rather irregular amounts. The 

 aggregate for the year is 3.52 per cent. The favorite food of the 

 fhcker, however, is ants. They form the largest item of animal food, 

 not only in the aggregate but in every month. The total for the 

 year is 49.75 per cent of the food. They were found in 524 of the 684 

 stomachs, i. e., in 76 per cent of the whole, and there were 98 stomachs 

 that contained no other food. The following table shows the im- 

 portance o£ ants in the diet of the flicker: 



In one case a stomach and crop were both filled with very small 

 ants {CreTnastogaster sp.). The whole mass was divided with care 

 into 16 parts as nearly equal as possible, and in one part 315 ants 

 were counted, giving 5,040 in one meal of one flicker. In addition 

 there were at least 100 pupae. Two other stomachs and crops ex- 

 amined in the same way each gave a Uttle over 3,000 ants. Probably 

 each of 100 stomachs in the collection contained nearly as much 

 ant food as these, but the number of ants was less because they were 

 of larger species. A large proportion of the ants eaten are of species 

 that Hve in the earth, and these appear to be the principal food the 

 flicker obtains on the ground. In every case where the stomach held 

 a quantity of these small ants, a lot of fine sand revealed their source. 



Since the fhcker destroys so many ants, it may be well to inquire 

 as to the economic bearing of this work. As a rule we do not hear 

 many serious complaints against ants. They do not attack crops or 

 manufactured products. Probably they do some good by devouring 

 dead matter, both animal and vegetable, and in this way hasten 

 the decay of dead trees. On the other hand, some species enter 



