A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



accused of injuring the apple and other fruit 

 trees, but the depredator is probably the 

 larger and rarer yellow-bellied species. One 

 autumn I caught one of these fellows in the 

 act of sinking long rows of his little wells in 

 the limb of an apple-tree. There were series 

 of rings of them, one above another, quite 

 around the stem, some of them the third 

 of an inch across. They are evidently made 

 to get at the tender, juicy bark, or cambium 

 layer, next to the hard wood of the tree. 

 The health and vitality of the branch are so 

 seriously impaired by them that it often dies. 

 In the following winter the same bird 

 (probably) tapped a maple-tree in front of 

 my window in fifty-six places ; and when the 

 day was sunny, and the sap oozed out, he 

 spent most of his time there. He knew the 

 good sap-days, and was on hand promptly 

 for his tipple ; cold and cloudy days he did 

 not appear. He knew which side of the 

 tree to tap, too, and avoided the sunless 

 northern exposure. When one series of 

 well-holes failed to supply him, he would 

 sink another, drilling through the bark with 

 great ease and quickness. Then, when the 

 day was warm, and the sap ran freely, he 

 would have a regular sugar-maple debauch, 



36 



