WOODPECKER FAMILY. 21 



35 percent of fruit pulp not further identified. The greater part of 

 the fruit eaten is of wild species, of which the elder (Sambucus) is the 

 favorite. Rubus fruits (raspberry or blackberry) were found in a 

 few stomachs. Probably this bird will never do any serious harm by 

 eating fruit. Seeds of poison oak, cambium, and mast (acorns) make 

 up the other 11 percent of the vegetable food, and have no special 

 economic interest, except that the scattering abroad of the seeds of 

 poison oak is a nuisance. Taken as a whole, the vegetable food of 

 the Nuttall is of little economic importance. 



SUMMARY. 



While the evidence at hand does not show that this bird feeds on 

 any specific pest, yet it is doing good in preying upon noxious insects 

 in general; moreover, it does not injure any product of husbandry. 

 It should therefore be encouraged to pursue its good work. 



RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 



(Sphyrapicus ruber.) 



While the red-breasted sapsucker inhabits most of California at 

 some time of the year, it is generally absent from the valleys during 

 the warmer months, usually retiring to the mountains and forest 

 regions to breed. 



Of the 24 stomachs of this species received, nearly all were taken 

 in fruit-growing sections, and represent only the months from Sep- 

 tember to March inclusive. Statements based upon the examination 

 of so little material can scarcely be considered final, but considerable 

 knowledge may be gained of the kinds of food eaten, even if the 

 relative quantities can not be determined. The food consists of 63 

 percent of animal matter and 37 percent of vegetable. 



Animal food. — Seventy-five percent of the animal food consists of 

 ants, and the average per month is 40 percent of the whole diet. Two 

 stomachs taken in January contained an average of 49 percent each. 

 One stomach collected in March held 84 percent, and one in September 

 was completely filled with them. In other months the amounts were 

 less. In respect to ant eating this sapsucker keeps up the reputation 

 of the family. Other Hymenoptera aggregate only a little more than 

 7 percent, and all were found in stomachs taken from October to 

 December inclusive. 



This bird, like its eastern relative, has the habit of removing patches 

 of bark from certain live trees, usually willows, for the sake of cam- 

 bium and of the sap which exudes; and it also eats the insects at- 

 tracted by the sap, which are mostly bees, wasps, and ants; prob- 

 ably this accounts for the large predominance of Hymenoptera in the 

 sapsucker's diet. 



