24 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



habits are similar. Its range is practically confined to California, 

 though it extends slightly beyond the boundaries at the northern 

 and southern ends of the State. 



The food of the Nuttall is much like that of the downy, the principal 

 difference being in the relative proportions of the constituents. Only 

 53 stomachs of the Nuttall were available for examination — entirely 

 too few to furnish final results, but enough to give an idea of the 

 general character of the food. In the first analysis the food divides 

 into 79.41 per cent of animal matter and 20.59 of vegetable. This 

 differs but little from the record of the downy. 



Animal food. — The largest item in the diet of the Nuttall consists 

 of beetles of several families. The total for the year is 28.86 per 

 cent. Of these the useful Carabida3 are barely represented. The 

 remainder are divided among about a dozen families, of which the 

 very harmful Cerambycidse and Elateridse in the larval stage are the 

 most prominent. Ants amount to 8.19 per cent and are unevenly 

 distributed, and the indications are that the stomachs are entirely 

 too few to give trustworthy data on this item. Hymenoptera other 

 than ants were eaten to the extent of 3.50 per cent. This again is 

 not a reliable result, as nearly all of them were found in one stomach- 

 taken in December. Hemiptera, or bugs, amounted to 14.76 per 

 cent. A few of these were scales and plant lice, but the majority 

 were of the larger species. Two stomachs contained each between 

 30 and 40 box-elder bugs (Leptocoris trivittatus) . These insects 

 have a way of becoming very abundant at times and making a 

 nuisance of themselves by invading buildings in search of winter 

 quarters. Caterpillars stand third in the dietary of the Nuttall 

 woodpecker and are eaten more regularly than any other food except 

 beetles. They amount to 14.21 per cent. No special pest was iden- 

 tified, but some were evidently wood-boring species. A few flies, 

 raphidians, pseudoscorpions, spiders, and millepeds make up the 

 rest of the animal food, 9.89 per cent. 



Following is a list of insects identified in the stomachs of the 

 Nuttall: 



COLEOPTERA. 



Glyptoscelis albidus. Blapstinus sp. 



Gastroidea sp. Balaninus sp. 



HEMIPTERA. 



Sinea diadema. Leptocoris trivittatus. 



ISOPTERA. 



White ant (Termes sp.). 



Vegetable food. — Fruit was eaten to the extent of 8.49 per cent. 

 It was found in 15 stomachs, of which 2 contained rubus seeds; 

 5, elderberries; and the rest, pulp not further identified, except that 



