Part 3

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) (fig. 4) is well known east of the Rocky Mountains, but is rather rare in New England. Unlike some of the other species, it prefers fence posts and telegraph poles to trees as a foraging ground. Its food therefore naturally differs from that of the preceding species, and consists largely of adult beetles and wasps, which it frequently captures on the wing, after the fashion of flycatchers. Grasshoppers also form an important part of the food. The red-head has a peculiar habit of selecting very large beetles, as shown by the presence of fragments of several of the largest species in the stomachs. Among the beetles were quite a number of predaceous ground beetles, and unfortunately some tiger beetles, which are useful insects. The red-head has been accused of robbing the nests of other birds; also of attacking young birds and poultry and peeking out their brains, but as the stomachs showed little evidence to substantiate this charge it is probable that the habit is rather exceptional.

It has been customary to speak of the smaller woodpeckers as "sapsuckers," under the belief that they drill holes in the bark of trees for the purpose of drinking the sap and eating the inner bark. Close observation, however, has fixed this habit upon only one species, the yellow-bellied woodpecker, or sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) (fig. 5). This bird has been shown to be guilty of pecking holes in the bark of various forest trees, and sometimes in that of apple trees, from which it drinks the sap when the pits become filled. It has been proved, however, that besides taking the gap the bird captures large numbers of insects which are attracted by the sweet fluid, and that these form a very considerable portion of its diet. In some cases the trees are injured by being thus punctured, and die in a year or two, but since comparatively few are touched the damage is not great. It is equally probable, moreover, that the bird fully compensates for this injury by the insects it consumes.

The vegetable food of woodpeckers is varied, but consists largely of small fruits and berries. The downy and hairy woodpeckers eat such fruits as dogwood, Virginia creeper, and others, with the seeds of poison ivy, sumac, and a few other shrubs. The flicker also eats a great many small fruits and the seeds of a considerable number of shrubs and weeds. None of the three species is much given to eating cultivated fruits or crops.

The red-head has been accused of eating the larger kinds of fruit, such as apples, and also of taking considerable corn. The stomach examinations show that to some extent these charges are substantiated but that the habit is not prevalent enough to cause much damage. It is quite fond of mast, especially beechnuts, and when these nuts are plentiful the birds remain north all winter, instead of migrating as is their usual custom.

Half the food of the sapsucker, aside from sap, consists of vegetable matter, largely berries of the kinds already mentioned, and also a quantity of the inner bark of trees, more of which is eaten by this species than by any other.

Many other woodpeckers are found in America, but their food habits agree in the main with those just described. Those birds are certainly the only agents which can successfully cope with certain insect enemies of the forests, and, to some extent, of fruit trees also. For this reason, if for no other, they should be protected in every possible way.

THE KINGBIRD

(Tyrannus tyrannus)

The kingbird (fig. 6) Is essentially a lover of the orchard, and wherever the native groves have been replaced by fruit trees this pugnacious bird takes up its abode. It breeds in all of the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and less commonly in the Great Basin and on the Pacific Coast. It migrates south early in the fall, and generally leaves the United States to spend the winter in more southern latitudes.

The kingbird manifests its presence in many ways. It is somewhat boisterous and obtrusive, and its antipathy for hawks and crows is well known. It never hesitates to give battle to any of these marauders, no matter, how superior in size, and for this reason a family of kingbirds is a desirable adjunct to a poultry yard. On one occasion in the knowledge of the writer a hawk which attacked a brood of young turkeys was pounced upon and so severely buffeted by a pair of kingbirds, whose nest was near by, that the would-be robber was glad to escape without his prey. Song birds that nest near the kingbird are similarly protected.

In its food habits this species is largely insectivorous. It is a true flycatcher by nature, and takes a large part of its food on the wing. It does not, however, confine itself to this method of hunting, but picks up some insects from trees and weeds, and even descends to the ground in search of myriapods or thousand legs. The chief complaint against the kingbird is that it preys largely upon honeybees; and this charge has been made both by professional bee keepers and others. Many observers have seen the bird at work near hives, and there is no reason to doubt the honesty of their testimony. One bee raiser in Iowa, suspecting the kingbirds of feeding upon his bees, shot a number near his hives, but when the birds' stomachs were examined by an expert entomologist not a trace of honeybees could be found.

The Biological Survey has made an examination of 281 stomachs collected in various parts of the country, but found only 14 containing remains of honeybees. In these 14 stomachs there were in all 50 honeybees, of which 40 were drones, 4 were certainly workers, and the remaining 6 were too badly broken to be identified as to sex.

The insects that constitute the great bulk of the food of this bird are noxious species, largely beetles--May beetles, click beetles (the larvæ of which are known as wire worms), weevils, which prey upon fruit and grain, and a host of others. Wasps, wild bees, and ants are conspicuous elements of the food, far outnumbering the hive bees. During summer many grasshoppers and crickets, as well as leaf hoppers and other bugs, are also eaten. Among the flies were a number of robber flies--insects which prey largely upon other insects, especially honeybees, and which have been known to commit in this way extensive depredations. It is thus evident that the kingbird by destroying these flies actually does good work for the apiarist. Nineteen robber flies were found in the stomachs examined; these may be considered more than an equivalent for the four worker honeybees already mentioned. A few caterpillars are eaten, mostly belonging to the group commonly known as cutworms, all the species of which are harmful. About 10 per cent of the food consists of small native fruits, comprising some twenty common species of the roadsides and thickets, such as dogwood berries, elder berries and wild grapes. The bird has not been reported as eating cultivated fruit to an injurious extent, and it is very doubtful if this is ever the case, for cherries and blackberries are the only ones that might have come from cultivated places, and they were found in but few stomachs.

Three points seem to be clearly established in regard to the food of the kingbird--(1) that about 90 per cent consists of insects, mostly injurious species; (2) that the alleged habit of preying upon honeybees is much less prevalent than has been supposed, and probably does not result in any great damage; and (3) that the vegetable food consists almost entirely of wild fruits which have no economic value. These facts, taken in connection with its well-known enmity for hawks and crows, entitle the kingbird to a place among the most desirable birds of the orchard or garden.

THE PHŒBE.

(Sayornis phœbe.)

Among the early spring arrivals at the North, none more welcome than the phœbe (fig. 7). Though, naturally building its nest under an overhanging cliff of rock or earth, or in the mouth of a cave, its preference for the vicinity of farm buildings is so marked that in the more thickly settled parts of the country the bird is seldom seen at any great distance from a farmhouse except where a bridge spans some stream, affording a secure spot for a nest. Its confiding disposition has rendered it a great favorite, and consequently it is seldom disturbed. It breeds throughout the United States east of the Great Plains, and winters from the South Atlantic and Gulf States southward.

The phœbe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, most of which are caught upon the wing. An examination of 80 stomachs showed that over 93 per cent of the year's food consists of insects and spiders, while wild fruit constitutes the remainder. The insects belong chiefly to noxious, species, and include many click beetles. May beetles, and weevils. Grasshoppers in their season are eaten to a considerable extent, while wasps of various species, many flies of species that annoy cattle, and a few bugs and spiders are also eaten regularly. It is evident that a pair of phœbes must materially reduce the number of insects near a garden or field, as the birds often, if not always, raise two broods a year, and each brood numbers from four to six young.

The vegetable portion of the food is unimportant, and consists mainly of a few seeds, with small fruits, such as wild cherries, elder berries, and juniper berries. The raspberries and blackberries found in the stomachs were the only fruits that might have banged to cultivated varieties, and the quantity was trifling.

There is hardly a more useful species than the phœbe about the farm, and it should receive every encouragement. To furnish nesting boxes is unnecessary, as it usually prefers a more open situation, like a shed, or a nook under the eaves, but it should be protected from cats and other marauders.

THE BLUE JAY.

(Cyanocitta cristata.)

The blue jay (fig. 8) is a common bird of the United States east of the Great Plains, and remains throughout the year in most of its range, although its numbers are somewhat reduced in winter in the Northern States. During spring and summer the jay is forced to become an industrious hunter for insects, and is not so conspicuous a feature of the landscape as when it roams the country at will after the cares of the nesting season are over.

Ornithologists and field observers in general declare that a considerable portion of its food in spring and early summer consists of the eggs and young of small birds, and some farmers accuse it of stealing corn to an injurious extent in the fall. While there may be some truth in these accusations, they have almost certainly been exaggerated. No doubt many jays have been observed robbing nests of other birds, but thousands have been seen that were not so engaged.

In an investigation of the food of the blue jay 292 stomachs were examined, which showed that animal matter comprised 24 per cent and vegetable matter 70 per cent of the bird's diet. So much has been said about the nest robbing habits of the jay that special search was made for traces of birds or birds' eggs in the stomachs, with the result that shells of small birds' eggs were found in three and the remains of young birds in only two stomachs. Such negative evidence is not sufficient to controvert the great mass of testimony upon this point, but it shows that the habit is not so prevalent as has been believed. Besides birds and their eggs, the jay eats mice, fish, salamanders, snails, and crustaceans, which altogether constitute but little more than 1 per cent of its diet. The insect food is made up of beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and a few species of other orders, all noxious, except some 3½ per cent of predaceous beetles. Thus something more than 19 per cent of the whole food consists of harmful insects. In August the jay, like many other birds, turns its attention to grasshoppers, which constitute nearly one-fifth of its food during that month. At this time, also, most of the other noxious insects, including caterpillars, are consumed, though beetles are eaten chiefly in spring.

The vegetable food is quite varied, but the item of most interest is grain. Corn was found in 70 stomachs, wheat in 8, and oats in 2--all constituting 19 per cent of the total food. Corn is evidently the favorite grain, but a closer inspection of the record shows that the greater part was eaten during the first five months of the year, and that very little was taken after May, even in harvest time, when it is abundant. This indicates that most of the corn is gleaned from the fields after harvest, except what is stolen from cribs or gathered in May at planting time.

The jay's favorite food is mast (i. e., acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.), which was found in 158 of the 292 stomachs and amounted to more than 42 per cent of the whole food. In September corn formed 15 and mast 35 per cent, while in October, November, and December corn dropped to an almost inappreciable quantity and mast amounted to 64, 82, and 83 per cent, respectively. And yet in these months corn is abundant and everywhere easily accessible. The other elements of food consist of a few seeds and wild fruits, among which grapes and blackberries predominate.

The results of the stomach examination show, (1) that the jay eats many noxious insects; (2) that its habit of robbing the nests of other birds is much less common, than has been asserted; and (3) that it does little harm to agriculture, since all but a small amount of the corn eaten is waste grain.