THE VEGETABLE FOOD OF BIRDS. 41 



fowls. The wild turkey, all of the grouse, the geese, and 

 many of the ducks feed freely upon them. None of these 

 birds seem to have much preference, but take such leaves as 

 are found convenient. The ducks, for instance, are usually 

 limited to aquatic plants. Eel-grass is eaten by many of 

 them, notably the scaups, the red-head, and the canvas-back. 

 Geese are more terrestrial, and consequently they enjoy a 

 more extensive bill of fare. The more strictly vegetivorous 

 grouse plucks right and left, as may be inferred from the fol- 

 lowing list of leaves taken by us from the crops of ruffed 

 grouse : crowfoot, chickweed, clover (both white and red), 

 strawberry, barren strawberry, everlasting, dandelion, golden- 

 rod, sheep-laurel, sheep-sorrel, apple, and willow. Sheep- 

 laurel, so poisonous to lambs, is eaten with impunity, though 

 it is thought to render the flesh of the bird poisonous to man. 

 Roots are mostly exempt from consumption by birds. The 

 crow occasionally uncovers newly planted potatoes and feeds 

 on them. Both Irish and sweet potatoes are relished by 

 cranes, which are said also to devour the roots of pond-lilies. 

 The roots and bulbs of aquatic plants are eaten by geese and 

 vegetivorous ducks whenever they are to be had. Only the 

 larger birds are powerful enough to get at roots or to eat 

 them after they are exposed. The great majority are con- 

 tent to let them fulfil their mission, and await results above 

 ground. 



SAP. 



The sap of maples, birches, mountain-ash, and a few other 

 trees is enjoyed by several of the wood-pecking birds. Chicka- 

 dees may be seen, at the right seasons, tapping the smooth 

 twigs of maples and attentively sipping the forth-coming drops. 

 Some of the woodpeckers have the same habit. The most 

 notorious among them are the yellow-bellied woodpeckers, 

 or sapsuckers, which are inveterate tipplers of the sap of 

 black and canoe birches and mountain-ash. They also eat 

 the tender inner bark of these and other trees. 



