PERSONA NON GRATA 37 



our Northern forests from which we make candy. 

 A strong probability that our bird wanted sap 

 is indicated by the arrangement of the holes. 

 Usually he drills his holes in rings around the 

 tree-trunk, but in this instance his longest lines 

 of holes are vertical. If our sapsucker was 

 drilling for sap, he arranged his holes so that it 

 would almost run into his mouth, lazy bird ! 



Our piece of bark has taught us : 



That the sapsucker injured this tree. 



That he was not after grubs. 



That he got, and undoubtedly ate, the soft 

 inner bark of the tree. 



That he got, and may have drunk, the sap. 



We could not infer any more from a single 

 instance, but the naturalists assure us that the 

 bird is in the habit of injuring trees, that he 

 never eats grubs intentionally, and that he eats 

 too much bark for it to be regarded as taken 

 accidentally with other food. About the sap 

 they cannot be so sure, as it digests very quickly. 

 There remain two points to prove : whether the 

 sapsucker drills his holes for the sake of the 

 sap, or for insects attracted by the sap, provided 

 that he eats anything but the inner bark. 



Our little specimen can tell us no more, but 

 two mountain ash trees which were intimate 

 acquaintances of mine from childhood can go on 



