18 BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AFFECTING FRUIT INDUSTRY. 
bark of trees. It behooves the orchardist to see that these birds are 
carefully protected on his premises and encouraged in every pos- 
sible way. 
The Hemiptera, or bugs, which appear in the food of the downy 
woodpecker are plant lice and scales, with a few other forms. They 
amount to 10 percent of the year’s food, but all were eaten in the 
seven months beginning with March, and averaged 17 percent for each 
of these months. Scales were found in 8 stomachs, and in one they 
constituted 83 percent of the contents. The black olive scale 
(Saissetia ole) was the only one identified. Plant lice were found 
in 11 stomachs, but none were specifically identified, although 
some were of the woolly species. That these are a favorite food is 
shown by the quantity eaten. Five stomachs contained the follow- 
ing percentages: 94, 94, 84, 81, and 80. These creatures are so 
fragile that the process of digestion soon destroys their shape, and 
it is highly probable that small numbers were contained in many 
more stomachs but were not identified. 
Grasshoppers, although a favorite article of bird food, are entirely 
ignored by the downy woodpecker. This emphasizes the arboreal 
habits of this species, as most birds feed upon grasshoppers, when 
in season, in preference to their ordinary food. Flies also are prac- 
tically shaeat from the diet of the downy. A few miscellaneous 
insects and spiders, amounting in all to 3 percent, make up the 
remainder of the animal food. 
Vegetable food.—The vegetable part of the food may be arranged 
under three heads—fruit, seeds, and miscellaneous items. Fruit 
was found in 14 stomnelis, and amounts to 9 percent of the food. 
Cherries were identified in a few stomachs, and apples, or a similar 
fruit, in several more; but most of the remains were skins of small 
barties not further tdentiied, Evidently this bird does little or no 
damage to fruit. Seeds amount to a little more than 7 percent, and 
are mostly those of poison oak, which the downy, in common with 
many other birds, aids in disseminating. Grain (oats) was found 
in 2 stomachs. The miscellaneous vegetable food, 7 percent, consists 
of mast, or acorn meat, a little cambium, and rubbish. 
Food of young.—A nest of young downies was watched for 12 one- 
hour periods during six days, and the number of feedings noted as 
follows: 
Date: Hours in sins teal Hours in Mangber 
forenoon, feedings. afternoon. feedings. ; 
9,16-10.16 12 4.23-5.23 13 
S.01- 9.01 10 1.13-2.13 10 
10,42-11.42 12 5.00-6.00 10 
9.17-10.17 14 2.34-3.34 10 
10,15-11.15 11 4.49~5.49 15 
10.37-11.37 20 4.33-5.33 23 
