WOODPECKERS 163 



tasting the juice, and states that in the Southern States it 

 frequently in winter visits barnyards or corn cribs.* 



This species nests in hollow trees in a cavity excavated by 

 itself; the eggs are laid on chips at the bottom. While the 

 female is incubating, the male is said to excavate a hole near- 

 by which he uses to sleep in at night, and such shelters are 

 used by the birds throughout the winter. Forbush, however, 

 tells of a hairy woodpecker which regularly passed the night 

 clinging to the north side of a tree trunk in a thick grove.f 



Food habits. — ^A study of the food habits of this species 

 by Prof. Beal has demonstrated its usefulness on the farm and 

 in the forest. It feeds largely on insects, among which the 

 larvae of wood-boring beetles constitute a large percentage; 

 ants, caterpillars, and weevils make up most of the remainder 

 of the animal food. The vegetable food taken consists mainly 

 of wild fruit, seeds of a variety of plants, including some 

 weeds, mast, and a little com, chiefly waste grain taken in 

 winter.^ Bendire states that the young are fed largely on 

 figs.** 



HAIRY WOODPECKER : Dryobates viUosus villosus 

 (Linnaeus) . 



The northern form of the hairy woodpecker probably does 

 not breed in the State ; it is known only from a specimen taken 

 at Huntsville, September 4, 1908 — doubtless a straggler from 

 farther north. 



SOUTHERN DOWNY WOODPECKER; "LITTLE 



SAPSUCKER": Dryobates pitbescens 



pubescens (Linnaeus). 



State records. — The southern and slightly smaller race of 

 the downy woodpecker is a permanent resident throughout the 

 State. Specimens have been examined from York, Tidewater 

 (Tuscaloosa County), Wilsonville, Natural Bridge, Gunters- 

 ville. Sand Mountain (Jackson County), Scottsboro, Wood- 



•Audubon, J. J., Ornith. Bioe., vol. B, p. 165, 1839. 



tForbush, E. H., Useful birds and their protection, p. 260, 1907. 



JBeal, F. E. L., Biol. Surv. Bull. 87, pp. 13^17, 1911. -,,„„, 



•♦Bendire, C, Life histories of North American birds, vol. Z, p. 51, 1896. 



