266 HoLLES Oil the Tellow-belUed Woodpecker [July 



over thirty feet. All of these fifteen trunks were dead or dyinjj^. 

 Only seven of them bore leaves. I reached thisorchartl at 6. 25 p.m. 

 and Ihiding no birds in sight placed PuHy on a stump close to the 

 drills which w^ere onlv seven to nine feet from the ground. In- 

 stantly a Hummingbird appeared, buzzing and squeaking, and 

 the next moment a female Sapsucker came into the tree scolding. 

 I removed PufTy and soon after the Hummingbird began dipping, 

 giving a squeak each time he dip])ed. At 6.50 the Hummer, 

 again discovering Puffy, flew within ten inches of his eyes, 

 buzzed indignantly and flew away. 



On Aug. 5 from 3 to 4 p. m. no Sapsuckers came to Orchard 

 No. 4 and only one Hummer. A high wind was blowing. 



On August 7 I visited Orchard No. i. About twenty new holes 

 had been made since July 28 and great quantities of frothy sap 

 were wasting. The sap was as sweet as though artificially sweet- 

 ened. I saw one yoimg Sapsucker and one Hummingbird ; 

 neither of them dipped. The Woodpecker caught several in- 

 sects. 



On Aug. 8 I reached Orchard No. 4 at 6 a. m. At 6.03 a 

 Hummer came. At 6.06 a young Sapsucker came and began 

 dipping. I had with me, instead of one of my Barred Owls, one 

 of three young Screech Owls which Mr. Batchelder had confided 

 to mv care for the season. 'Scops' was placed in a conspic- 

 uous position in the heart of the orchard. The Sapsucker liad 

 scarcely begun dipping when he saw the Owl and raised the 

 alarm. Over thirtv l^rds came, including two Hummers. By 6.30 

 the noise subsided, and the Sapsucker, who had not left the tree 

 at all, resumed his dipping. A male Hummei was also dipping 

 at 6.31. At 6.42 the Sapsucker was clipping within seven feet 

 of mv head, and the Hummer was perched close by. At 6.47 

 the Hummer buzzed in Scops' foce and then perched again. At 

 6.52 another Hummer came and both flew away, at 6.54 both 

 came back, but went again. At 6.56 Scops, whose wing was 

 clipped, jumped nearly six feet at the young Sapsucker, at whom 

 he had been glaring for some time. The Woodpecker flew with 

 a loud cry, scolded for a long time and then disappeared. I 

 nailed a birch bark cup to one of the stems and while doing it a 

 Hummer came and looked at me. Later, he came again, looked 

 at the cup and dipped at drills close above it. 



I spent from 10 a. m. until 12.34 '•' Orchard No. 2 for the 



