JANUARY, 1902. WINTER HABITS OF RED HEADED WOODPECKER. 
71 
also during the night, although I failed to drive out any by pound- 
ing these trees with a heavy club. 
As the winter wore on the store of food gradually disappeared, 
until the end of February, when it was about exhausted. At this 
lime, too, the birds began to scatter, the number in the grove 
decreased, and they were soon heard tapping upon the telephone 
posts about town. But many of the trees still bore evidences of 
the services they rendered during the past winter. In most cases 
the pulpy matter had been eaten out of the acorns without remov- 
ing them, leaving a hollow shell as a mark in the corky bark of 
the tree. When they were not so firmly secured the remains 
were generally found in coarse, but more often finely broken 
parts at the base of the tree. 
Upon further investigation by means of printed inquiries sent 
throughout the state, the red-headed woodpecker was reported 
from all but the extreme northern portions. The results as a 
whole were surprising. Of the one hundred and fifty blanks that 
were mailed about one hundred were returned, and the majority 
of these were intelligently answered. Still the greatest care must 
be exercised in the use of these reports. Such cases as seemed 
doubtful were either corroborated or discarded. Thus some of 
the reports from the northern tier of counties proved to have 
reference to the piliated woodpecker {Ceophloeus) . In such cases 
where the birds were reported as present, but not the acorns, I 
have assumed that either the acorns were overlooked, or, as is the 
case in some reports, they came from localities where Quercus is 
scarce. All cases in which both the birds and acorns were re- 
ported were regarded as correct, but where only the acorns were 
reported considerable care is necessary. Thus Mr. B. H. Smith 
of Rock county writes that he saw blue jays storing the acorns; 
Mr. J. P. Lewis of Friendship, Adams county, says he saw the 
blue jay eat them; and Mr. Herbert Vaughn of Bowers, Wal- 
worth county, reports that the nuts were stored by the large 
spotted woodpecker (Dryobates villosus, in all probability). 
With these facts and doubts before the reader he will be able 
to take the following results for what they are worth. 
Many of the reports were exceptionally good and showed that 
much interest is taken in our Wisconsin birds. The results ob- 
tained should give us a fair conception of the distribution of 
Melanerpes in our state during the winter of 1899- 1900. As the 
accompanying tabulation will readily show, the distribution seems 
to have been confined to certain areas, in some of which they 
were exctptionally numerous, in others less so. About Madison 
they were seen in large numbers. So, too, in the neighborhood of 
Beaver Dam, Dodge county. Mr. W. E. Snyder writes from that 
