34 



THE WOODPECKERS 



where the sapsucker's cause has been eloquently 

 and ably defended, the case has gone against 

 him. Scientists now do not deny that the sap- 

 sucker does harm. But his worst injury is less 

 in the damag-e he does to the trees than in the ill- 

 will and suspicion he creates against woodpeckers 

 which do no harm at all. If you will study the 

 picture and the descriptions in the Key to the 

 Woodpeckers, you will be able 

 to recognize the sapsucker and 

 his nearest relatives, whether in 

 the East or in the West. But 

 all sapsuckers may be known by 

 their pale yellowish under parts, 

 and by the work they leave be- 

 hind. As the yellow-bellied sap- 

 sucker is the only one found east 

 of the Rocky Mountains, we shall 

 speak only of him and his work. 

 Here is a specimen of the 

 yellow-bellied sapsucker's work 

 which I picked up under the 

 tree from which it had fallen. 

 We do not need to inquire whether the tree 

 was injured by its falling, for we know that 

 the loss of sound and healthy bark is always a 

 damage. Was this sound bark ? Yes, because 

 it is still firm and new. The sap in it dried 



Work of Sapsucker. 



