4 Merriam on Birds of Lewis County, New York 



young and healthy trees is, I think, but partly understood. It is 

 unquestionably true that they feed, to a certain extent, both upon 

 the inner bark and the fresh sap from these trees, but that the 

 procurement of these two elements of sustenance, gratifying as they 

 doubtless are, is their chief aim in making the punctures I am in- 

 clined to dispute. As the sap exudes from the newly made punc- 

 tures, thousands of flies, " yellow-jackets," and other insects congre- 

 gate about the place, till the hum of their wings suggests a swarm 

 of bees. If, now, the tree be watched, the Woodpecker will soon 

 be seen to return and alight over that part of the girdle which he 

 has most recently punctured. Here he remains, with motionless 

 body, and feasts upon the choicest species from the host of insects 

 within easy reach. Therefore it is my firm belief that their chief 

 object in making these holes is to secure the insects which gather 

 about them. 



Some time ago Mr. C. L. Bagg called my attention to a clump of 

 mountain-ash whose leaves had turned yellow and were fast falling 

 off. Here a pair of these birds, with their young, had established 

 an unfailing food supply, and at almost any time of day several of 

 their dark motionless forms might be seen adhering to the trunks 

 and branches of the young trees. Evidently this had been their 

 headquarters for several seasons, for all the main stems in the 

 cluster were girdled for at least five feet (commencing two or three 

 feet from the ground), and most of the branches of any size were 

 likewise punctured. In making each girdle they work around the 

 trunk, and from below upwards, but they may begin a new girdle 

 below an old one. They make but few holes each day, and after 

 completing two or three remain over the spot for some little time, 

 and as the clear fresh sap exudes and trickles down the bark they 

 place their bill against the dependent drop and suck it in with evi- 

 dent relish, — a habit which has doubtless given rise to the more 

 appropriate than elegant term, " Sap-Sucker," by which they are 

 commonly known in some parts of the country. I have several 

 times watched this performance at a distance of less than ten feet, 

 and all the details of the process were distinctly seen, the bird 

 looking at me, meanwhile, " out of the corner of his eye." When 

 his thirst is satisfied he silently disappears, and as silently re- 

 turns again, after a few hours, to feast upon the insects that have 

 been attracted to the spot by the escaping sap. This bird, then, 

 by a few strokes of its bill, is enabled to secure both food (animal 



