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 olese) 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 absent 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 stomachs, 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 

 berries not further identified. 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 

 forenoon. 



Number 



of 

 feedings. 



Hours in 

 afternoon. 



Number 



of 

 feedings. 



June 7 



9.16-10.16 

 8.01- 9.01 

 10.42-11.42 

 9.17-10.17 

 10.15-11.15 

 10.37-11.37 



12 

 10 

 12 

 14 

 11 

 20 



4.23-5.23 

 1.13-2.13 

 5.00-6.00 

 2.34-3.34 

 4.49-5.49 

 4.33-5.33 



13 

 10 

 10 

 10 

 15 

 23 



June 8 



June 9 



June 10 



June 11 



June 12 





