16 THE FOOD OF WOOKPECKERS. 



The only grain discovered was corn, which was found in 2 stom 

 achs. In one case it was green corn in the milk, but this is hardly i 

 sufficient to prove the habit of eating corn. Fruit aggregates a little 

 more than 11 percent of the food of the species, and is fairly distrib- 

 uted among all the items in the above list. Since blackberries are the j 

 only kind of cultivated fruit found in the stomachs, and since they grow i 

 wild in abundance, it is evident that the Hairy Woodpecker does not at I 

 present cause any great damage by his fruit-eating habits. The sub- j 

 stances in the miscellaneous list form about 11 percent of the whole food, \ 

 and are- practically of the same character as in the case of the Downy, t 

 Poison ivy seeds were eaten by 7 birds, and poison sumac by only 1, so ' 

 that not so many seeds of these undesirable shrubs are distributed by \ 

 the Hairy as by the Downy. The weed seeds in the stomachs were ' 

 few in number, but in Iowa both the Hairy and the Downy Woodpeckers ' 

 feed largely on weed seeds in winter, stomachs taken then containing : 

 little else. Kubbish amounts. to about one-twelfth of all their food, ^j 

 which is the largest percentage shown by any species. 1 



Dr. Merriam informs.me that in northern Xew York the Hairy Wood- ; 

 pecker, like the other woodpeckers of the Adirondack region, feeds 

 largely on beechnuts. In late fall, winter, and early spring following i 

 good yields of beechnuts the nuts form the principal food of the 

 woodpeckers. \ 



FLICKER. / 



(ColapiiKuiiiratitB.) 1| 



This bird, one of the largest and best known of our woodpeckers, is li 

 more migratory than either the Hairy or l>owny, in winter being scarce i 

 or absent from- its breeding range in the Northern States, where it is ; 

 very abundant in summer and early fall. The Yellow-shafted Flicker 

 is distributed throughont the United States east of the Kocky Moun- 

 tains. In the West it is replaced by the Ked-shafted Flicker, which 

 may be considered the same so far as food habits are concerned. > 

 Under one or the other of its. various titles of Flicker, Golden-winged ! 

 Woodpecker, High-holder, Yellow-hammer-, Pigeon Woodpecker, and 

 Hair3 -wicket, it is. known to every farmer and schoolboy and, unfortu- J 

 nately, to certain so-called sportsmen also, for this is the one woodpecker 

 that is often seen in city markets. In most places it is a nuich shyer j 

 bird than either of the preceding, and while it frequents the farm and j 

 approaches building.s. freely it keeps more in the tops of the trees. and | 

 does not allow so near an .approach of its greatest eneniy, man. This is I 

 I)articularly true in the northeastern part of the country, where large -^ 

 bags of Pigeon Woodpeckers are annually made among the wild cherry , 

 trees in which the birds feed. The Flickers soon learn whom they have j 

 to fear, and such knowledge seems to be hereditary. They are very 

 prolific, rearing from six to ten y<mng at a brooil, and so keep reason- j 

 ablv abundant in most parts of the country. The Flicker is the most \ 



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