22 THE FOOD OF WOODPECKERS. 
In an interesting article in the Auk,! Mr. O. P. Hay says that in cen- 
tral Indiana during a good beechnut year, from the time the nuts began 
to ripen, the Redheads were almost constantly on the wing, passing 
from the beeches to some place of deposit. They hid the nuts in almost 
every conceivable situation. Many were placed in cavities in partly 
decayed trees; and the felling of an old beech was certain to provide 
a feast forthe children. Large handfuls were taken from a single knot 
hole. They were often found under a patch of raised bark, and single 
nuts were driven into cracks in the bark. Others were thrust into 
cracks in gateposts; and a favorite place of deposit was behind long 
slivers on fence posts. In a few cases grains of corn were mixed with 
beechnuts. Nuts were often driven into cracks in the ends of railroad 
ties; and the birds were often seen on the roofs of houses pounding 
nutsinto the crevices between the shingles. In several instances the 
space formed by a board springing away from a fence was nearly filled 
with nuts, and afterwards pieces of bark and wood were brought and 
driven over the nuts as if to hide them from poachers. 
In summer Dr. Merriam has seen the Redheads “make frequent 
sallies into the air after passing insects, which were almost invariably 
secured.” He has also seen them catch grasshoppers on the ground in 
a pasture. 
Dr. A. K. Fisher saw several Red-headed Woodpeckers feeding on 
grasshoppers in the streets at Miles City, Mont., in the latter part ot 
July, 1893. Several of the birds were seen capturing these insects near 
the hotel throughout the greater part of the forenoon. From a regu- 
lar perch on top of a telegraph pole or cottonwood they descended on 
their prey, sometimes eating them on the ground, but more often 
returned to their former post to devour them. 
The following interesting observation was made by Dr. G. 8. Agers- 
borg, of Vermillion, 8. Dak. :? 
Last spring, in opening a good many birds of this species with the object of ascer- 
taining their principal food, I found in their stomachs nothing but young grass- 
hoppers. One of them, which had its headquarters near my house, was observed 
making frequent visits to an old oak post, and on examining it I found a large crack 
where the woodpecker had inserted about 100 grasshoppers of all sizes (for future 
use, as later observation proved), which were put in without killing them, but they 
were so firmly wedged in the crack that they in vain tried to get free. I told this to 
acouple of farmers, and found that they had also secn the same thing, and showed 
me posts which were used for the same purpose. Later in the season the wood- 
pecker whose station was near my house, commenced to use his stores, and to-day 
(February 10), there are only a few shriveled-up grasshoppers left. 
Mr. Charles Aldrich, of Webster City, Iowa, states that he saw a Red- 
headed Woodpecker catching grasshoppers on the prairie half a mile 
from timber. In Nebraska grasshoppers were found in 4 out of 6 
stomachs examined by Prof. Samuel Aughey. 
| Auk. Vol, EV, 1887, pp. 194,195. 
2» Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, Vol. III, 1878, p. 97. 
