ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF OUR BIRDS. 
577 
boring larvae, and althongh it feeds extensively upon insects, other materials 
furnish it with much of its food. There are some records against it which 
awaken grave apprehensions as to its usefulness. Audubon accuses it of suck¬ 
ing the eggs of Bluebirds, Martins and Pigeons; and in the American Naturalist 
(Vol. XI, p. 308) Mr. Charles Aldrich has a note accusing the Red-headed Wood¬ 
pecker of killing very young Cayuga Ducks. It kills the ducklings by a single 
blow upon the head and' then eats the brains. As this Woodpecker performs no 
work in the destruction of insects peculiar to itself, and as it is somewhat 
destructive of grains and fruits, its depredations upon small birds must be very 
limited indeed to warrant any encouragement being extended to it. 
Food: Of eighteen specimens examined, twelve had eaten beetles, among 
them two long-horns, one click-beetle, one common beetle (Silpha peltataj, and 
one ground-beetle; one, a grasshopper; two, three crickets; one, a caterpillar 
(Edema albifronsJ; three, apples; two, wild black cherries; and one, corn. 
Cherries, pears, apples, berries of sour gum, corn in the milk, wood-borers, 
bugs, caterpillars and other insects (Wilson). Apples, pears, cherries, Indian 
corn in the milk, and insects which infest decaying trees (De Kay). It is more 
fond of berries than most of its relatives (Samuels). Cherries, apples, pears, 
peaches, figs, mulberries, and corn; it sucks the eggs of Bluebirds, Martins and 
Pigeons (Audubon). Sap of the sugar maple (C. A. White, Am. Nat., VII, 496). 
Young Cayuga Ducks (Charles Aldrich, Am. Nat., XI, 308). Corn from the 
barnyard, and grasshoppers (Am. Nat., Vol. XIII, p. 522, C. Aldrich). Beetles 
(Cetoniidae), seeds of weeds and other vegetable matter (Forbes). 
152. COLAPTES AURATUS (LiNN.), Sw. GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 
Group II. Class a. 
This species is the most abundant and the most terrestrial of our Woodpeckers, 
and it is a more frequent visitor to prairies than any of its allies. Open fields, 
pastures and meadows are its favorite resorts, and it is only during the migra¬ 
tions that it is at all common in heavy timber away from cultivated fields. Like 
the Robin, it obtains its food both upon and beneath the surface of the ground. 
It is especially fond of ants, and often tears open their hills to obtain them; and 
it searches much among the fallen leaves and mould in groves for chrysalids 
and insects in other stages. Like the last species, it does not appear to be de¬ 
structive to wood-boring larvae. Ants appear to form the greater part of its 
food, but it will be seen that it is quite desti’uctive to some of the ground-beetles, 
usually regarded as beneficial. 
The habits of ants, as to their economic relations, have been so little investi¬ 
gated that it is difficult to state whether a bird which feeds largely upon them 
renders a service or an injury. The injury which ants sometimes do to ripe 
pulpy fruits, their protection to aphidae by warding off their enemies, and their 
obstructions in the way of ant-hills which they often build in damp meadows, 
are bad traits, but lead to no very marked evil consequences. Some of the leaf¬ 
cutting ants are undoubtedly injurious. On the other hand, the fact that ants 
are often seen dragging about larvae and various forms of insects which they 
sometimes carry into their homes, suggests that they may be quite destructive 
to insects, or scavengers at least. The occurrence of bits of egg-shell in the 
stomach of one of these birds suggests that it may be guilty of sucking the eggs 
of other birds. 
Food: Of twenty-two specimens examined, seventeen had eaten 1,059 ants: 
five, 278 ant pupae; four, 27 beetles — among them eighteen ground-beetles 
Vol, 1 — 37 
