148 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



is no adequate return for the damage of which it is 

 the author. 



Montague Chamberlain, in a note to Nuttall's ac- 

 count of this bird in his (Chamberlain's) edition of 

 Nuttall, says, 



" The ' sapsucking' habit of this species, denied by some, . . . has 

 been established by (the late) Mr. Frank Bolles. 



" For several days Mr. Bolles almost continuously watched a num- 

 ber of these birds while they operated on trees, . . . maple-, oak-, 

 birch-, and ash-trees, and drank the sap as it dripped from these holes. 

 When one set of holes became 'dry' others were drilled, eight to 

 sixteen on each tree, the new holes being made higher up than the 

 old. Some of the birds spent about nine-tenths of the time in drink- 

 ing sap." 



In the face of such facts it is difficult to find any 

 reason for not exterminating such mischief-makers. 

 I have not found in New Jersey any one who has 

 suffered the loss of trees through the attacks of these 

 birds, even in the limited localities where they have 

 been found nesting. Unlike other woodpeckers, this 

 one is an expert fly-catcher. 



In a remote corner of one of Pennsylvania's hilly 

 counties, where superb hemlock-trees were still stand- 

 ing, and the ground was so rough and rocky that it 

 was difficult even to clamber over it, I had the good 

 fortune to spend the entire month of November, 

 1865. I led a wild life, wild as the wary fox, the 

 surly bear, and timid deer. My bed was hemlock 

 boughs, my shelter the overhanging rocks. While 

 struggling to cross a rapid mountain brook, hidden 

 in a dense growth of rhododendrons, I realized for a 

 moment that I might be lost and called to my com- 

 panions. The reply was a loud cackle or cackling 



