YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. 
402. NSphyrapicus varius. 8% inches. 
Male with a scarlet crown and throat; female with 
a scarlet crown and white throat; young with the head 
and neck mottled gray and white, with a few scarlet 
feathers. 
This species has gained some ill-repute because of its 
supposed habit of boring through the bark of trees in 
order to get at the sap, and thus killing the trees. 
However, [ very much doubt if they do any appre- 
ciable damage in this manner. I have watched a great 
many of them in the spring and fall and have clearly 
seen that they were feeding upon insects in the same 
way as the Downy. 
Wote.—A loud whining “whee,” and other harsh calls 
similar to the scream of a Blue Jay. 
Nest.—In holes in trees, at heights from the ground 
varying from eight to fifty feet, Late in May they lay 
from four to seven white eggs (.85 x .60). 
Range.—U. 8S. east of the Rockies, breeding from 
Virginia and Missouri to Hudson Bay, and wintering 
in southern U. 8. 
