SAPSUCKERS AND THEIR GUESTS. 



OF the seven species of woodpeckers which I 

 have found in the region of Mt. Chocorua, New 

 Hampshire, the yellow-breasted or sapsucker is 

 the most numerous. It may fairly be said to 

 be abundant in that district. I base this state- 

 ment upon my daily count of birds seen between 

 April and the middle of October in the years 

 1889 and 1890. I frequently record seeing from 

 seven to ten of these birds in a day. Their fa- 

 vorite haunts are mixed growths of young birch, 

 larch, hemlock, maple and white ash bordering 

 water or wet lands. 



My attention has been drawn to the yellow- 

 breasted woodpeckers on two accounts, their 

 quickness to observe and persistence in scolding 

 my tame owls when in the woods ; and their de- 

 struction of certain forest trees. 



During the summer of 1890, 1 was led to spend 

 a considerable time in close study of these wood- 

 peckers and their feeding habits, by the peculiar 

 relations which I noticed as seeming to exist be- 

 tween them and humming-birds. My observa- 

 tions were given point by my recollection of the 



