78 PICID^ : WOODPECKERS. 



bark in which the circulation of the wood is most active, 

 and we cannot suppose that trees girdled and bled in 

 such fashion are not injured by the operation. To some 

 extent therefore the bird merits the name of " Sap- 

 sucker," and deserves the disfavor with which its ap- 

 pearance in the orchard is usually regarded. 



Woodpeckers as a rule are stationary or nearly so, 



Fig. 13. — Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 



shifting their quarters rather according to fortuitous cir- 

 cumstances than in obedience to the strict law of north- 

 south migratory impulse. If any one of our species 

 comes fully within the letter of the law, it is the Yellow- 

 bellied, as indeed might be inferred from what has been 

 said of the nature of its food. In southern New Eng- 

 land, the bird is chiefly observed in spring and fall ; 

 in other sections it is a common summer resident, 

 breeding in large numbers. No one should be sur- 

 prised to hear of the bird in mid-winter, though I 

 have overlooked the records to this effect, if any, in- 

 deed, exist. The mode of nesting is in no wise pecul- 



