“I 
Jan, 1921 ACORN-STORING BY THE CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER 
the shell leavings were proof that the opening process consisted more in tearing 
than puncturing, the pieces were of such form as strongly to suggest that the 
nuts were operated on after having been taken from the holes. Not many 
empty shells were found in situ, or even in the litter, opened at the butt, as 
would generally have to be the case had they been opened before extraction 
from the store-holes. These and later observations effectually disprove the 
theory that the holes are used by the birds as a sort of vise for holding the 
nuts in order that they may be opened. 
Another fact brought to light by examining the shell litter was that most 
Fig. 2. P#BBLES INSERTED IN ACORN-PITS; SUPPOSED TO 
HAVE BEEN DONE BY CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER; PART 
OF SPECIMEN IN MUSEUM OF VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
PROCURED ON SONOMA MOUNTAIN NEAR SANTA ROSA, 
CALIFORNIA, IN May, 1913, By GEo. P. MCNEAR. 
of the nuts which had been opened so far this winter were grub-containers. 
This was easily recognizable by the excrement, ete., of the grubs still clinging 
to the inner surfaces of the shells. The clean inside of the shell of a grubless 
nut as compared with the dirtiness of a grubby shell makes it possible to reeog- 
nize at a glance even as to rather small pieces of shell, whether the nut was 
‘“‘wormy’’. Furthermore, examination of many acorns still in the store-holes, 
found many more ‘‘sound’’ than ‘‘wormy’’ ones. The impression gained from 
the examination at this time was strongly to the effect that while the birds 
