46 FOOD OF WOODPECKERS OF UNITED STATES. 



Messrs. Grant and Ferry, writing from Klamath Hot Springs, 

 Oregon, say: /'Abundant in flocks first part of September. Per- 

 sons with guns stationed in orchards * * * to destroy these 

 birds, kill 25 to 50 of them per day for from one to two weeks." 



Mr. J. E. McLellam says they " never come in great numbers unless 

 there is a good crop of mast, when they come in swarms. They hoard 

 similar to the California woodpecker." Quite a number of apple 

 growers interviewed by the writer testified that the bird destroyed 

 some apples, but none of them considered the loss of any importance. 

 As the orchards increase in area, the damage will probably become 

 less. 



Mr. W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards,Cal.,in a letter to the Biological 

 Survey, dated March 14, 1909, says of this bird:. 



Several cases fiave come under my observation when in the fall months of Septem- 

 ber and October the California and Lewis woodpeckers have made their appearance in 

 canyon apple orchards and went into them picking open the apples for the codling 

 moth worms they contained, going all over the trees and taking such fruit as had a 

 wormhole in it. In one orchard of about 2 acres in extent at Sunol, this county 

 (Alameda), near the Niles Canyon, I counted 23 bodies of the Lewis woodpeckers and 

 9 of the- California tied up to the limbs by the legs to frighten off the birds. The owner 

 did not seem to know what the woodpeckers were after * * * till I called his 

 attention to the condition of his wormy fruit. 



For investigation of this bird's food only 59 stomachs were availa- 

 ble. They were collected in five States from Montana and Wyoming, 

 westward to the Pacific coast. They are so irregularly distributed 

 over the year as to make systematic study of the food impossible, 

 but we may learn some of the elements which compose it. Animal 

 matter amounts to 37.48 per cent and vegetable to 62.50 per cent. 



Animal food. — Predaceous beetles were eaten to the extent of 6.72 

 per cent, and, as is usually the case, the most appear to have been 

 taken in spring and early summer. They were made up of Carabidse 

 and Coccinelliclse (ladybird beetles). Of the former, the genus 

 Pasimachus was recognized, and of the latter, two species, Hippo- 

 damia convergens and H. 15-maculata, were identified. Other beetles 

 amount to 2.40 per cent and were all eaten in the five months from 

 June to October. Among them were several Meloidse, or blister 

 beetles, not usually supposed to be very palatable. One specimen 

 of a water beetle (PTiilhydrus diffusus) was also identified. 



There is nothing in the stomachs to indicate that this bird ever 

 digs into wood, decayed or otherwise, in search of beetle larvae. Ants 

 were eaten most in summer and in April, and June appears to be the 

 month of maximum consumption, while May shows none. The 

 average for the year is 11.87 per cent, but this can not be considered 

 final. Other Hymenoptera reach 11.57 per cent. Hemiptera, or 

 bugs, seem to be taken very sparingly, and those chosen were of the 

 larger species. They amount to 1.36 per cent. Grasshoppers are 



