YOUNG SAPSUCKERS IN CAPTIVITY. 175 



pecker may be successfully kept in captivity for 

 a period corresponding to that during which as 

 a resident bird he taps trees for their sap, sus- 

 tained during this time upon a diet of which 

 from 90 to 100 per cent is diluted maple syrup ; 

 (2) that this fact affords evidence of an ex- 

 tremely strong character, in confirmation and 

 support of the theory that, when the yellow- 

 breasted woodpecker taps trees for their sap, he 

 uses the sap as his principal article of food, and 

 not primarily as a bait to attract insects. 



