NOTES ON THE FOOD OF BIRDS 43 
more or less marked with grey. In the female and young 
male the red on the head is very much reduced, and scarcely 
noticeable, while the under parts are more decidedly yel¬ 
lowish. The bird has four toes; and the tongue is scarcely ex¬ 
tensile, the tip being obtuse and brushy. The specimens be¬ 
fore me were collected by Mr. E. Atkins, on the SapelloRiver, 
on the Rio de las Casas, and at Cleveland, all in New Mexico. 
The bird was apparently first collected in New Mexico by Dr. 
Henry, as recorded by Baird in 1858. (Birds Pacific R. R. 
Survey, p. 104). Dr. Henry also obtained it at Fort Thorn 
(tom. cit. p. 921). 
Hairy Woodpecker 
Dryobcites villosus , the hairy woodpecker, exists from the 
Atlantic to the Pacitic in a variety of sub-specific forms. The 
form known as harrisii has been reported from Socorro County, 
N. M.; but it is now held that this bird belongs exclusively to 
the Pacific Coast, and consequently cannot have been found 
in New Mexico. Bendire reports the form lnjloscopus as that 
found in New Mexico, but Mr. A. W. Anthony gives the name 
rnontanus to the birds ranging from New Mexico to Montana. 
The bird, whatever it may be called, nests in dead trees, 
and is said to be especially abundant in regions where the 
timber has been killed by fires. Bendire says of it: “It is 
one of our most active woodpeckers, always busy searching 
for food, which consists principally of injurious larvae and 
eggs of insects, varied occasionaly with a diet of small berries 
and seeds, and in winter sometimes of pinon nuts, pine seeds, 
and acorns. At this season I have often seen this species 
around slaughter houses, picking up stray bits of meat or fat, 
and have also seen it pecking at haunches of venison hung up 
in the open air." 
Beal says: *‘The hairy woodpecker probably ranks next 
to the downy in point of usefulness. Tt eats fewer ants, but 
a relatively larger percentage of beetles and caterpillars." 
Mr. F. M. Webster has noticed that they will peck through 
the cocoons of the eecropia moth, and devour the pupa? 
within. 
