YOUNG SAFSUCKERS IN CAPTIVITY. 165 



the woodpeckers was inspecting the bark. He 

 watched the rod and seemed puzzled by it, but 

 did not fly. Sh:»wly lowering the noose I let it 

 settle around his neck, and then by a slight jerk 

 drew it tight. He flew in small circles round 

 and round the tip of the rod, held by the noose, 

 and slightly choked by it. A minute later, freed 

 from the line, he was in the sapsucker's cage. 



He was a j'oung bird, like the sapsuckers, and 

 I supposed that the latter would not notice that 

 he was not one of their own family. I thought 

 it possible that he might follow their example 

 and drink syrup from the cups, for I had once 

 seen a downy woodpecker dipping at one of the 

 sapsucker's "orchards." Unhappily, however, 

 the stranger was not welcomed kindly, and as I 

 was called away for the day, he had no defender. 

 The sapsuckers pursued him from one corner of 

 their cage to another, striking him fierce blows 

 on his head and over his eyes, until he fell to the 

 floor exhausted. Reviving, he again attracted 

 their notice and attack, but his second fall was 

 his last. 



About August 1, it seemed to me that the sap- 

 suckers were unusually restless ; they whined 

 and scolded a great deal and went from room to 

 room incessantly. I think that at this season 

 the wild birds begin to frequent their " orchards " 

 less regularly than in May, June, and July. The 



