YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 31 
eaten in larger numbers than by any of the others. Among them were 
several long-legged crane flies ( Tipulids). Spiders were eaten to a small 
extent only, and most of these were phalangers or ‘daddy-longlegs,’ 
which, taken with the crane flies, would indicate a slight preference for 
long-legged prey. Bugs, wasps, caterpillars, crickets, and mayfiies 
collectively amount to about 6 percent, no one of them reaching any 
very important figure. Prof. Samuel Aughey examined 5 stomachs of 
the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker in Nebraska, all of which contained 
grasshoppers. The number in each stomach varied from 15 to 33. 
Mr. William Brewster states that at Umbagog Lake, Maine, “ After 
the young have hatched, the habits of the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker 
change. From an humble delver after worms and larve, it rises to the 
proud independence of a flycatcher, taking its prey on wing as uner- 
tingly as the best marksman of them all. From its perch on the spire 
of some tall stub it makes a succession of rapid sorties after its abun- 
dant victims, and then flies off to its nest with bill and mouth crammed 
full of insects, principally large Diptera.”! 
The vegetable food of the Sapsucker is varied. The following fruits 
and berries were found in the stomachs: 
Fruit: Miscellaneous: 
Dogwood berries (Cornus florida). 
Black alder berries (Ilex rerticillata). 
Virginia creeper berries ( Parthenocis- 
sus quinquefolia). 
Wild black cherries (Prunus serotina). 
Blackberries or raspberries (Rubus). 
Unidentified. 
Poison ivy seeds (Rhus radicans). 
Mullein seeds ( Verbascum thapsus). 
Juniper berries (Juniperus virginiana). 
Buds. 
Seeds unidentified. 
Cambium. 
Rubbish. 
The quantity of fruit found in the stomachs formed 26 percent of the 
entire food, but the only kinds identified that might possibly be culti- 
vated were blackberries and raspberries, and these were in only 2 
stomachs. Unidentifiable fruit pulp was found in 12 stomachs. Mis- 
cellaneous seeds to the amount of 5 percent complete the list of sub- 
stances eaten by this species. Poison ivy seeds were found in only 1 
stomach, and most of the other things were distributed in about the 
same proportion. 
Dr. Merriam informs me that in the fall in northern New York the 
Sapsuckers feed on ripening beechnuts, the small branches bending 
low with the weight of the birds while picking the tender nuts. 
‘Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, Vol. I, 1876, No. 3, p. 69. 
