514 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



has a decidedly bitter taste, and I believe possesses intoxicating 

 properties, unless it be taken for the latter purpose; and the fact 

 that after drinking freely of the sap of this tree it may often be 

 seen clinging to the trunk for hours at a time, as if stupefied, 

 seems to confirm this view." And, similarly, Eaton ('14, pp. 150- 

 151) remarks: "One frequently finds mountain ash trees, pines, 

 black spruces, ironwoods, and birches so weakened by the boring 

 of this species that they never recover from his attack. * * * 

 As the spring advances and the weather becomes warm, the sap 

 begins to ferment. I suspect this is the reason that the Sapsucker 

 is so frequently found stupefied by feeding on too great an abun- 

 dance of the liquid. On several occasions I have seen a Sapsucker 

 so gorged with fermented sap that he allowed himself to be picked 

 up in the hand and I have seen one alight on the clothing of a 

 bird-student and climb up his outstretched arm without seeming 

 to realize that he was on a man instead of a tree. It is evident 

 they become tipsy on the sap in the same manner that thrushes 

 frequently become stupefied by feeding upon fermented fruit." 



The following observations by Prof. A. G. Whitney, of The 

 New York State College of Forestry, are of interest. He informs 

 me that he saw Sapsuckers at work on gray birches (Betula populi- 

 folia) at Hanover, N. H., and states that: "The trees were bled 

 steadily and thoroughly and during the daytime the birds drank all 

 the flow of sap ; but at night much of it flowed down over the trunk 

 where it fermented during the heat of the day and was wasted. 

 This fermenting was obvious by the appearance of the sap, and 

 the odor was unmistakable. The Sapsuckers were never observed 

 to drink the fermenting sap but were seen to suck up only the fresh 

 liquid from the upper openings." 



This reputation for tippling has led to an interesting and amusing 

 article recently published by Johnson ('16), in which he records 

 the opinions of some bird-students on this subject. Evidently fur- 

 ther careful field work and chemical study is needed to clear up 

 this problem. It is significant that Beal, who has devoted several 

 years to the study of the food of woodpeckers, does not attempt 

 to discuss the subject of intoxication. Possibly he discredited it. 

 An effort has been made to learn something of the chemical basis 

 for the formation of alcohol in the fermenting sap. In reply to 

 mv inquiry the following opinion was given by Dr. H. A. Edson, 

 Physiologist of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, who has made extensive investigations of 

 the micro-organisms of maple sap, and who wrote to me, under date 

 of July 3, 1916, as follows: "Indeed I am not aware that we 

 have any exact information regarding this question. I am person- 

 allv inclined to question whether Sapsuckers become intoxicated 

 as a result of drinking fermenting sap. In my investigations in 

 Vermont. I found alcohol production to be a very minor occurrence 

 in the decomposition of sap. The majority of the micro-organisms 

 which I isolated and studied were not producers of ethyl alcohol. 

 None of the yeasts occurring spontaneously in the regions where I 



