88 BIRDS OF A MAEYLAND FARM. 



been mentioned in connection with the piscivorous habits of birds (see 

 p. 53). The stomachs of 5 nestlings were examined. 



WOODPECKERS. 



The following' woodpeckers were noted at Marshall Hall: 



Downy woodpecker {Dryobates pubescens), Eed-headed w-oodpecker {Melanerpes ery- 



13. throcephalus), 1. 



Yellow-bellied sapsucker {Spliyrapicus va- Red-tellied w^oodpecker {Melanerpea car- 



rius), 2. olinus). 



Pileated woodpecker {Ceophloeus pileatus). Flicker [Colaptes auratus) , 2. 



The stomachs of 13 downy woodpeckers were collected. All con- 

 tained insects and 2 fruit — the berries of smilax and poison ivy. 

 Ants appeared to-be the favorite food, having been eaten by all the 

 birds except one. Beetles and their larvae had been eaten by 8 birds. 

 The kinds selected were click-beetles, ground-beetles (Amara)^ dark- 

 ling-beetles {Helojys xreus)^ and longicorn-beetles (Elajyhidion). Cat- 

 erpillars, including Catocala^ were found in 3 stomachs; miscellaneous 

 insects, principally fly-like insects, in tt; snails in 2, and spiders in 7. 

 Vegetable food amounted to one-fourth of the whole, a proportion 

 probabl}' diminished by the fact that -1 of the stomachs were those of 

 young birds. As the downy woodpecker feeds largely on wood- 

 boring insects and other species that infest tree trunks, it is useful in 

 woodhmd and orchard. 



The yellow-bellied sapsucker (fig. 31) is the cause of all the maledic- 

 tions that have been heaped on the woodpecker tribe. It secures a 

 large part of its food by drilling holes in tree trunks to serve as wells 

 for collecting the sap on which it feeds. In examining 81 stomachs 

 of this woodpecker. Professor Beal found that sapwood or alburnum 

 formed 23 percent of- their contents, a circumstance that indicates the 

 importance of sap in the economy of this species. Sap itself can not 

 be detected unless the stomach is examined immediatel}^, which is 

 impracticable in the case of stomachs sent to the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



Several authors have mentioned the fact that this bird kills birches. 

 The following field notes show the manner in which it works injury to 

 apple trees: 



In the summer of 1895 there was on the Bryan farm a little orchard 

 of 9 apple trees, about twelve 3^ears old, that appeared perfectly 

 healthy. In the fall sapsuckers tapped them in many places, and 

 during spring and fall of the next four years the}" resorted to them 

 regularly for supplies of sap. Observations were made (October 15, 

 1896) of two sapsuckers in adjoining trees of the orchard. From a 

 point 20 feet distant ih^j were watched for three hours with powerful 

 glasses to see whether the}^ fed to an}" considerable extent on ants and 



