56 The Wilson Bu-lletin — No. 51. 



WINTER NOTES ON YELLOW-BELLIED SAP- 

 SLICKER (Sphyrapicus varius). 



BY C. H. MORRIS. 



On January 15, 1905, on one of the coldest days of the 

 winter, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker — a fine male — dropped in 

 near my lunch counter, and from that time until now, Feb- 

 ruary 15, he has been about nearly every day. The first time 

 I saw him he was sticking- close to the ground on the south- 

 eastern side of a maple catching the first level rays of the 

 sun. With shoulders rounded and feathers ruffled he looked 

 to be as cold as was the weather. On the 23d, the tempera- 

 ture having risen to thawing point, he drilled his row of holes 

 in the maple, where first I saw him, and during the forenoon 

 never once left his post. The sap ran sluggishly and his ap- 

 pearance matched it. I had noticed him flying about a couple 

 of plum trees upon which the dried fruit hung in abundance — 

 Dawson plums they are — and on the 29th, while watching his 

 scarlet-throated lordship, I saw him pluck a plum. He did 

 not insert it in a crack as his family does with nuts, but ate 

 it partially, dropping the stone. His favorite method is tak- 

 ing small bits of the fruit as it hangs. On the 27th, the sap 

 from the holes had frozen into icicles some five inches long, 

 and Yellow-belly sat below, and nipping off the points leisure- 

 ly, ate the ice. Yesterday, February 14, the coldest day we 

 have had, with the temperature 8°, the bird flew on the lunch- 

 box in which I had just placed cracked hickorynuts and wal- 

 nuts. Close by him was suet in great plenty, which the 

 Downy and Hairy feed from almost exclusively, seeming to 

 have no taste for the nuts. But Yellow-bellied ate greedily 

 of the nuts, thus following in the footsteps of his brother, Red- 

 bellied Woodpecker, who scarcely ever will touch the meat 

 or suet. 



Mr. Dawson, in his charming work, " The Birds of Ohio," 

 gives this latitude as about the northern winter range of this 

 bird. February 11, another one came, this time an immature 

 specimen, but he only remained for two or three days. 



The birds are in the habit of frequenting a spruce and pine 

 tree close by, and several times they have been observed eat- 



