14 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



occurring in June, when the stomachs show 90 per cent of animal to 

 10 per cent of vegetable food. There is, however, no regular increase 

 or decrease as the seasons change, such as is noted in birds that sub- 

 sist upon flying insects and summer fruits. The wood-boring larvae 

 upon which this bird so largely feeds can be obtained at all times of 

 the year, and the same is true of most of the vegetable food. 



Animal food. — The largest item in the annual diet of the hairy 

 woodpecker consists of the larvae of cerambycid and buprestid beetles, 

 with a few lucanids and perhaps some other wood borers. These 

 insects constitute over 31 per cent of the food and are eaten in every 

 month of the year. The greatest amount is taken in December, when 

 it reaches 41 per cent of the whole; and in May, the month of least 

 consumption, it still amounts to over 21 per cent. This shows how 

 earnest these birds are in their efforts to procure this kind of food. 

 In summer, insects and small fruits abound — enough to satisfy 

 appetite and in variety apparently suited to every taste — but the birds 

 still search for and obtain these wood-boring grubs to the extent of a 

 fifth or more of their daily food, at the cost of hours of hard labor in 

 digging them from the tree. One stomach contained 100 of these 

 larva? and 83 and 50, respectively, were taken from two others. Of 

 the 382 stomachs, 204, or 53 per cent, contained these grubs, and 27 

 of them held no other food. Other beetles amount to a little more 

 than 9 per cent. They are distributed among a number of families, 

 but are nearly all more or less harmful. 



Weevils (Rhynchophora), or snout beetles, aggregate a little more 

 than 3 per cent, and are mostly represented by the curculios (Cur- 

 culionidae) and engraver beetles (Scolytidae). One of the former, 

 Dorytomus mucidus, seems to be a favorite, as it was found in a num- 

 ber of stomachs, of which one contained 109 and another 63 indi- 

 viduals. The engravers were found in 18 stomachs. One contained 

 50 adults and 25 larvae; another, 21 adults and 10 larvae. They were 

 of such species as Tomicus cselatus and PolygrapTius rufipennis. Of 

 the latter, 17 individuals were taken from one stomach. A few cara- 

 bids, or predaceous ground beetles, were also found. The average 

 amount of these useful insects consumed is sixty one-hundredths of 

 1 per cent (0.60). The month of greatest consumption is March, 

 when they are eaten to the extent of 2.46 per cent of the whole food. 

 Evidently this bird does little harm by eating useful beetles. 



Ants stand second in importance in the diet of the hairy wood- 

 pecker. They amount to a little more than 17 per cent, and are 

 eaten in every month. In January, which is the month of greatest 

 consumption, they reach more than 27 per cent and nearly the same 

 in February. They are apparently eaten the least in November, 

 when they aggregate somewhat more than 10 per cent, but this may 

 be accidental, as both October and December show higher percent- 

 ages and July practically the same. In a general way these insects 



