594 ' The Roller-like Birds 



wilderness, it is the commonest Woodpecker. Its ordinary note is a sort of 

 whining "whace" whence it is sometimes called the Whining Woodpecker; 

 it is not, however, a very noisy species. Nevertheless, it is not in very good 

 repute on account of its propensity for boring numerous rows of holes in the 

 trunks and limbs of fruit, shade, and ornamental trees; in fact, it has been known 

 to cause the death of valuable trees by completely girdling them. This tapping 

 of trees is usually done in the spring when the sap is flowing freely, and the birds 

 are known to feed on the sap, as well as on the tender inner bark, and doubt- 

 less on the insects attracted to the store of sweets. It also searches quite in- 

 dustriously about the bark for insects, but will rarely attempt to dig in solid 

 wood. Berries, fruit, and seeds are made use of for food, but only when hard 

 pushed by hunger will it turn to acorns and other nuts. The late Mr. Frank 

 Bolles published some very interesting observations on this Sapsucker and its 

 method of drilling the holes and making use of the flowing sap. He says: "The 

 Sapsuckers' ' orchard ' consisted of about a dozen canoe birches and red maples, 

 most of which were dead, some decayed and fallen. The tree most recently 

 tapped was a red maple about forty feet high and two feet through at the butt. 

 The drills made by the Woodpeckers began eighteen feet from the ground and 

 formed a girdle entirely around the trunk. This girdle contained over eight 

 hundred punctures and was about three feet high. In places the punctures or 

 drills had run together, causing the bark to gape and show dry wood within. 

 The upper holes alone yielded sap. From this I inferred that what the birds 

 obtained was the elaborated sap descending from the leaves through the fibers 

 of the inner bark. I tasted the sap and found it unmistakably sweet. . . . The 

 next day I watched from 9.30 until i. The male, female, and one young bird 

 were present, the tree being seldom left by all at once. During the morning 

 the female drilled four or five new holes. They were above the others in per- 

 pendicular series. They yielded sap freely. She was closely attended by the 

 young one, who occasionally swallowed pieces of the soft bark or cambium 

 layer taken from the bottom of the drills. The female also ate some of it. When 

 not drilling or resting, the female dipped sap from the holes near by. The male 

 drilled no holes, but dipped in those yielding sap. The dipping was done regu- 

 larly and quite quickly, often two or three times in each hole. The sap glistened 

 on the bill as it was withdrawn. The bill was directed toward the lower, inner 

 part of the drill, which, as I found by examinations, was cut so as to hold the sap." 

 The other forms of the genus are the Red-naped Sapsucker (S. v. nuchalis}, 

 distinguished by its reddish nape, which inhabits the Rocky Mountain districts 

 and thence south into the mountains of Mexico ; the Red-breasted Sapsucker 

 (S. ruber\ which is without the black patch on the chest and the white stripes 

 on the head, the latter together with the neck and breast being red; and the 

 Williamson's Sapsucker (S. thyroideus] , in which the rump is plain white instead 

 of mixed with black as are all the others, and the sexes exceedingly different in 

 color, the male being mostly blue-black with a red stripe on throat and yellow 

 belly, the female brownish, with upper parts barred with black and white. Both 

 occur in the western United States. 



