65 



I have never yet seen or heard any evidence in proof of it. Further we know that 

 Maple and Birch trees are tapped year after year for commercial purposes but the 

 genera! health of the tree seems never to be adversely affected by doing so. 



With regard to this habit of the Sapsucker, Mr. E. H. Forbush says that in 

 thirty years experience in Massachusetts no instance has come to his knowledge 

 of its doing any appreciable harm there. 



Apart from its sap drinking proclivity the bird's record is excellent; it is not 

 a fruit or grain eater, though in the autumn it will feed on mountain ash and a few 

 other wild berries. In general it devotes itself to the destruction of insects that live 

 on the trees or hide in the loose bark. Ants form a large proportion of its food. 

 These it obtains from the rotten wood in which they burrow, as it does not descend 

 to the gi-ound in search of them. Beetles and moths are also sought out and 

 devoured, but as this bird's tongue is not as well barbed as that of some of the 

 other Woodpeckers, fewer grubs of the wood-boring class are eaten by it. I 

 suppose if any man believes that these birds are doing an injury to his trees he 

 should be allowed to protect himself in the only way possible, viz., by getting rid of 

 the birds on his own premises ; but for his own sake he should be sure he gets rid 

 of the right one, and that neither the Downy nor the Hairy is destroyed by mistake. 

 Both the Downy and the Hairy Woodpecker remain with us all through the year, 

 whilst the Sapsucker is a summer resident only; so that whenever a Woodpecker is 

 seen in the winter it should be spared, for it is most certainly a beneficial one. 



WOODPECKEES. 



Description. 



PILEATED WOODPECKER— COCK OF THE WOODS. 



Adult male. Upper parts dull black; top of the head brilliant scarlet, the 

 feathers lengthened to form a crest, a white stripe borders this crest and separates 

 it from the dusky ear coverts; a stripe beginning at the nostril and passing down 

 the sides of the neck to the shoulders is tinged with yellow before the eye and is 

 white behind the eye; a scarlet stripe at base of the lower mandible, basal half of 

 the wing feathers white; under parts dusky black, the feathers sometimes slightly 

 margined with white. 



Adult female. Similar but with less scarlet on crown and none at base of 

 lower mandible. 



L., 17.00; W., 8.90; T., 6.25. 



Nest, a hole in the trunk of a tall tree. Eggs, four or five, white, oval. 



AECTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 



Adult Male. Toes three, two in front. Middle of crown with a bright yellow 

 patch; rest of upper parts shining blue black; wing feathers spotted with white; 

 middle tail feathers black, outer ones white, except at the base; a white line from 

 the nostrils passes below the eye; sides barred with black and white: rest of the 

 under parts white. 



Adult female. Similar, but without yellow patch on crown. 



L., 9.50; W., 5.10; T., 3.40. 



Nest, in a hole in a stub or tree. Eggs, four or five, white. 



