162 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



geners, a conservator of the forest. Two stomachs collected 

 in Texas contained wood-boring larvae, engraver beetles, 

 pecan nuts, and the fruit of the big magnolia. Audubon says 

 that the food consists principally of beetles, larvae, and large 

 grubs. He adds that the bird eats wild grapes with great 

 avidity, and also takes persimmons and hackberries.f 



Gosse mentions having examined two stomachs taken in 

 June, one of which contained nothing but cherries, the other 

 the remains of a large Cerambyx and the stones of several 

 cherries.^ 



SOUTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER; "SAPSUCKER": 

 I Dryqbates villosus audubonii (Swainson). 



St<de records. — The southern and smaller race of the hairy 

 woodpecker (fig. 6) is the prevailing form throughout the 

 State, occurring in moderate numbers in all timbered regions. 

 Specimens have been examined from Sand Mountain (near 

 Carpenter), Ardell, Cane Creek (Marshall County), Greens- 

 boro, Autaugaville, Attalla, Wilsonville, Hayneville, Teasley 

 Mill (Montgomery County), Dothan, Abbeville, and Bayou 

 Labatre. Four specimens from Sand Mountain, in the ex- 

 treme northeastern corner of the State, are intermediate be- 

 tween audubonii and villosus, but nearer the former. 



Nests with eggs were found at Prattville, March 31, 1894, 

 and March 28, 1916, and a nest containing young was found 

 at Leighton, May 10, 1893, 



General habits. — This woodpecker, while not especially shy, 

 seems to prefer the more secluded regions for its home, in- 

 habiting swampy bottoms, heavy upland timber, and wooded 

 mountain sides ; more rarely it is found about cultivated lands. 

 It is largely solitary in habit, seeming to resent the encroach- 

 ment of neighbors on its selected territory. It seeks its food 

 on many different kinds of deciduous trees, and Audubon 

 states that in the salt marshes about the mouths of the Missis- 

 sippi River he has seen it alight on large reeds and perforate 

 them as it would the trunk of a tree. He tells also of seeing 

 this bird clinging to the stalks of sugar cane, apparently 



iAudubon, op. cit., pp. 344-34S. 



iCiosse, P. H., Letters from Alabama, pp. 91-92, 1859. 



