20 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



make up about 2 per cent of the food. Grasshoppers, though so 

 acceptable to many birds, were found in only 2 stomachs of the 

 downy. On the other hand, eggs of grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, 

 and cockroaches were identified in 48 stomachs, mostly taken in the 

 fall and winter. Eleven stomachs from Kansas collected in December 

 deserve special notice. Eight of them contained the eggs of grass- 

 hoppers to an average extent of 10 per cent of all the contents. 

 Seven stomachs taken in Illinois in March contained grasshoppers' 

 eggs to an average of over 46 per cent of the whole food. This is evi- 

 dence of valuable service and emphasizes the fact that this bird 

 resorts to the ground for food in case of necessity. 



Miscellaneous insects amount to but 2.80 per cent, but among them 

 is one that deserves particular notice. This is the immature form of 

 the dobson (Corydalis cornutas), a large aquatic insect of nocturnal 

 habits, seldom seen except when it approaches a bright light. The 

 larvae are commonly known as hellgramites, and are usually found 

 under stones in the beds of streams, though sometimes seen among wet 

 rubbish near water. How a woodpecker could obtain these creatures 

 is a mystery, but 1 stomach of the downy contained the remains of at 

 least 4 of the larvae, and in another was 1 in the pupal stage. 



Spiders, millepeds, pseudoscorpions, sowbugs, and a few snails 

 aggregate 4.09 per cent, and complete the quota of the animal food. 



The following is a list of insects identified in the food : 



COLEOPTERA. 



Amara sp. Platydema sp. 



Gynandropus hylacis. Helops sereus. 



Stenolophus sp. Notoxus alamedx. 



Ips fasciatus . Pandeletejus hilaris. 



Tenebrioides bimaculata. Dorytomus mucidus. 



Dolopius lateralis. Dorytomus brevicollis. 



Melanotus sp. Desmoris constrictus. 



Chrysobothris sp. Gymnetron teter. 



Catorama sp. Conotrachelus naso. 



Aphodius inquinatus. Cryptorhynchus ferratus. 



Elaphidion sp. Centrinus sp. 



Rhagium lineatum. Balaninus sp. 



Oberea sp. Xyloterus bivittatus. 



Diachus auratus. Hylesinus aculeatus. 



Gastroidea cyanea. Piezocorynus mixtus. 

 Melasoma calif ornica. 



HYMENOPTERA. 



Ants (Camponotus marginatus and C. pennsylvanicus) . 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



Tent caterpillar (Malacosoma sp.). Codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella). 



Cotton bollworm (Heliothis obsoletus). 



