FLICKER. 5 7 



HEMIPTERA. 



Zelusrenardi. Tibicenrimosa. 



Blissus leucopterus. Cimex lectularius. 



Metapodius sp. 



DIPTEEA. 



Bibio sp. Tipula sp. 



LBPIDOPTEEA. 



Mamestra picta. 



OETHOPTERA. 



Gryllus sp. Ischnoptera sp. 



ISOPTEEA. 



Termes flavipes . 



CEUSTACEA. 



Oniscus sp. 



MOLLUSCA. 



Parastarte triquetra. Zonitoides minusculus . 



Vegetable food. — Corn was found in 17 stomachs of the flicker, wheat 

 in one, and buckwheat in two. One stomach taken in March was 

 entirely filled with corn, evidently waste grain, ilost of the remain- 

 der was talcen in fall and early winter. The total for the year is 1.12 

 per cent. Small fruits are the favorite vegetable food with this bird. 

 They are eaten in every month and constitute a good percentage in 

 all but two. In April and May fruit amounts to less than 1 per cent, 

 but increases through the summer to October, when it is about 42 

 per cent of the food, and then decreases gradually to the minimum in 

 April. Possibly some of the Rubus fruits were cultivated, and the 

 cherries in one stomach certainly were, while the fruit pulp in 21 

 stomachs may have been, but in any case the amount is insignificant 

 and shows that the flicker eats but little domestic fruit. On the other 

 hand, 31 species of wild fruits were identified. They were contained 

 in 265 stomachs, and 40 contained no other food. They are not only 

 the favorite vegetable food, but, next to ants, are the favorite food 

 of the year. There is also shown a fondness for the seeds of various 

 species of poisonous Bhus (poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac). 

 These seeds are eaten mostly in the fall and winter months, when small 

 fruits are less abundant. May, June, and July are the only months 

 when none were eaten. November appears to be the month of 

 greatest consumption, when they reach nearly 38 per cent. The 

 aggregate for the year is 9.25 per cent. 

 ^Mast, if the term be limited to acorns and other nuts, is not a 

 favorite food of the flicker. It is eaten to some extent in the three 



