A LAUGHING FAMILY 



315 



US, uncle, and perhaps we can find the Downy 's nest 

 hole," said Nat. 



" Yes, I will come and tell you about the fourth 

 Woodpecker on the way — the one called the Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsucker. Though 

 very handsome, this is not a 

 bird that you would care to 

 have come in great numbers 

 to your garden or orchard 

 For this bird makes holes 

 in the tree bark and 

 eats the sap that leaks 

 out, from this habit 

 gaining the name 

 of Sapsucker. Of 

 course you see that 

 this is a very bad 

 thing for the trees; 

 for when a great 

 many holes have 

 been bored near 

 together the bark 

 loosens and peels 

 off, so that the tree 

 is likely to die. The Sap- 

 sucker also does harm by 

 eating the soft inner bark 

 which is between the roug-h 

 outside bark and the hard 

 heart-wood of the tree ; for tliis soft bark is where the 

 sap flows to nourish the tree. 



" When the bird bores the holes and the sap oozes 



Yellow-bellikd Sapsucker. 



