IIO BoLLES, Toiing Safsuckers in Capfivity. [April 



sustain life. It was possible that they might refuse to eat any- 

 thing, that they might eat the oftered food but die in a few days, 

 that they might hve for a time but show distress and inability to 

 digest the food. On the other hand it was possible that they 

 might take kindly to the diet, thrive upon maple S3a-up, and live 

 for weeks, perhaps months, in a manifestly healthy condition. 

 I had confidence enough in my previous observations to believe 

 that the birds would relish syrup, and would live upon it for a 

 sufficiently long time to induce those who still considered the 

 birds insect eaters only, to admit that a contrary presumption had 

 been raised. 



It was first necessary to sec\u-e the birds. Having failed in 

 1S90 to catch old birds by making them tipsy, I decided to secure 

 a nestful of young birds before they took to the wing. Searching 

 the forest near 'Orchard No. i' I found, on July i, a nest filled 

 with noisy fledglings whose squealing sounded afar in the other- 

 wise silent woods. The hole was on the south side of a living 

 poplar, about twenty feet from the ground. Two old holes 

 scarred the trunk. The parent birds came frequently to the tree, 

 and their arrival was always greeted by more vigorous crying 

 from the young. On the 6th I visited the nest again and foimd 

 both old birds feeding the young which were now much nearer 

 the mouth of the hole. The old birds scolded me on my ap- 

 proach, and the young remained silent for a long time after 

 hearing the warning notes of their parents. 



On Tuesday, July 7, at noon, I raided the nest. The poplar 

 was felled so that its top caught in a tree near by, preventing any 

 shock to the young birds. In spite of the resounding blows of 

 the axe the old birds continued to come to the nest, and in the 

 intervals of chopping thev fed the young. Moisture glistened on 

 their bills, and I was not sure that they brought insects in any 

 instance. One yovmg bird flew before the tree fell, a second 

 took wing as the crash came, but the third remained in the nest 

 until taken out by hand. I named them Number One, Number 

 Two and Number Three, corresponding to the order of their 

 entry into active life. Their coloring varied sufficiently for me 

 to recognize each with certainty after his transfer to a cage, and 

 as weeks passed by they became more and more dissimilar both 

 in coloring and conduct. 



Their cage was an oblong pine box containing about three 



