AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 39 



quires three years. In the fall is the most likely time to meet with these 

 Woodpeckers, for then they are traveling about in bands of from five to 

 seven., the young remaining in company with their parents for several 

 months after they leave their nest. 



Now we come to the question of the economic value of the Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsucker. I do not wish it understood that I judge the value of a bird in 

 a strictly economic sense, for I consider a beautiful or attractive bird or 

 a good songster to be as welcome a tenant as a gourmand with a large appe- 

 tite for insects. The SajDsucker is so named because he is supposed to, and 

 does to a certain extent, drink the sap of trees, thereby retarding their 

 growth or. as some claim, killing them. Quantities of material has been writ- 

 ten upon this subject but, with very few exceptions, it seems to be based upon 

 hearsay and lacks conclusive evidence. There is no doubt whatever that, at 

 times, they do drink sap, but I very much doubt if they indulge in this prac- 

 tice to an extent that would do any material injury to a tree. In the fall 

 these birds are quite abundant in Massachusetts and I have always taken par- 

 ticular pains to watch these birds at every opportunity, often spending an 

 hour or more following one bird to see just what he was feeding upon, and 

 I have never, during the many years that I have been in the woods, seen one 

 one of them take one drop of sap from any kind of a tree. I have said be- 

 fore that they were sluggish in their movements ; they are the greater part 

 of the time, but that does not apply when they are feeding for then they 

 climb about the trunks and branches with as much eagerness as a Downy or 

 Hairy Woodpecker ever did, and they seem to get just as many insects. I 

 have often seen them dash out into the air and catch insects that were flying 

 by, something that I have never seen any other member of the family do. 

 He may be a sapsucker, but I know that he is an insect-eater. Personally 

 I think that they are nearly as much value as insect destroyers as is the 

 Downy, and I am not yet, in view of my experiences, ready to admit that 

 they do any material damage. 



Most of you have probably noticed apple trees that had rows of holes ex- 

 tending around, or nearly around, the trunk. I was always told, and fre- 

 quently see it in print now, that these were made by Sapsuckers. Perhaps 

 some of them are. but not all. Last fall I watched a Downy busily at work 

 hammering on the trunk of an apple tree. He would pound away for about 

 half a minute steadily in one spot and then hitch sideways about an inch, 

 and repeat the operation ; when he had completely encircled the tree, he 

 dropped down about his length and made another ring around the trunk. 

 The marks left on the tree were identical with those that I had supposed 

 were made by the Sapsuckers. The Downy did not appear to find anything 

 to eat, and I concluded that he was doing it in play or that he wished to 

 sharpen his bill. 



Whether the Sapsucker is injurious or not we are not sure, but we know 

 that he is handsome, and I should like to see more of them about our houses. 

 as well as to more often hear their drumming in the woods, for besides being 

 noisy with their voices, they like to play upon a resonant piece of wood witli 

 their bill. 



