22 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



Mountain ash (Sorbus americana). Alternate-leaved dogwood (Cornus atier- 



Juneberry (Amelanchier canadensis) . nifolia) . 



Poison ivy (Rhus radicans) . Mullein ( Verbascum thapsus) . 



Poison oak (Rhus diver siloba). Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). 



Woodbine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) . Sunflower (Helianthus sp.)- 



Flowering dogwood ( Cornus fiorida) . Blueberry ( Vaccinium sp. ) . 

 Rough-leaved dogwood (Cornus asperi- 

 folia) . 



Summary. — The foregoing discussion of the food of the downy 

 woodpecker shows it to be one of our most useful species. The 

 only complaint against the bird is on the score of disseminating the 

 poisonous species of Rhus. However, it is fortunate that the bird 

 can live on this food when it is difficult to procure anything else. 

 The insect food selected by the downy is almost all of species econom- 

 ically harmful. 



RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. 



(Dryobates borealis.) 



The red-cockaded woodpecker is an inhabitant of the Lower 

 Austral zone of the Southeastern States from southern Virginia to 

 eastern Texas and southern Missouri. Pine woods are its favorite 

 haunts, and a large percentage of its food is obtained from pine trees. 

 No complaints have yet been heard that this bird harms crops or 

 forest trees, nor do the contents of its stomach indicate that such is 

 the case. So far as known, it does not frequent orchards or cultivated 

 land. 



In the investigation of this bird's food 76 stomachs were available, 

 taken in the four States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 

 They were collected in every month except June and July. Of the 

 total food 81.06 per cent was composed of insects, and the remainder, 

 18.94 per cent, of vegetable matter, mostly seeds of conifers. 



Animal food. — Useful Coleoptera, i. e., carabids, were found in 7 

 stomachs, and amount to 0.53 per cent of the whole food. Other 

 beetles, a large part of them the larvse of wood-boring species, aggre- 

 gate 10.49 per cent of the annual diet. Of these a number were 

 weevils or snout beetles. Of the two identified beetles in the list 

 which follows, the first belongs to the Chrysomelidos or leaf-eating 

 beetles; the other, Trogosita mrescens, is one of the most beneficial 

 species, since it preys upon the more destructive bark beetles and 

 bark-boring grubs. Ants are evidently the favorite food. They were 

 eaten in every month of which we have a record, and amount to a good 

 percentage in each. December, with a percentage of 27.43, was 

 apparently the month of least consumption, and September shows the 

 maximum of 79 per cent, but we have hardly enough data to obtain 

 final figures. The average for the year is 56.75 per cent, a record 

 which is exceeded by that of only one other bird yet studied. 



