14 THE FOOD OF WOODPECKERS, 
1878, Dr. Merriam “shot 4 Downy Woodpeckers all of whose gizzards 
were full of beechnuts and contained nothing else. The birds were 
often seen on moss-covered logs, and even on the ground, searching for 
the nuts exposed by the melting snow.” Dr. Merriam states also that 
he has seen this woodpecker in the fall eat the red berries of the moun- 
tain ash. 
HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
(Dryobates villosus.) 
This woodpecker is as common as the Downy in most parts of the 
United States, and to the ordinary eye can only be distinguished by 
its greater size, its color and markings being almost exactly the same. 
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Fig. 1.—Hairy Woodpecker. 
The Hairy is a noiser bird, however, often making his presence known 
by loud calls and obtrusive behavior and by rapid flights from tree 
to tree. Like the Downy, he has been accused of depredations on fruit, 
but the stomachs examined do not show that cultivated varieties form 
