The Audubon Societies 



303 



hours of the day, and until after dusk. It is true that they appeared to sleep a 

 part of the time. As the Sapsuckers belong to the family of Woodpeckers, 

 which feeds 

 principally on 

 insects, and as 

 the nestlings 

 cannot procure 

 much sap after 

 winter sets in, it 

 soon became 

 necessary for the 

 parents to at- 

 tempt to wean 

 their offspring 

 from their baby 

 food. In this 

 they had as 

 much trouble as 

 we humans do 

 when we try to 

 wean our young 

 from milk. 

 Sometimes, by 

 much calling and 



squeaking, the 



adult birds were 



able to get the 



young to fly to 



a dead tree 



nearby. Here a 



few dextrous 



pecks by the old 



birds would dis- 

 close the larva 



of some wood- 

 boring insect, 



which the young 



would greedily 



devour, and then 



they would beat 



a hasty retreat 



for the suckle on 



the gray birches 



I. GRAY BIRCH PITTED BY SAPSUCKERS 

 A natural-size detail of the preceding illustration 



