WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 227 



Maine the birds exhibit a decided preference for dead 

 birches. The average height of the excavation from the 

 ground is about forty feet. Many of the nests are gourd- 

 like in shape, with sides very smoothly and evenly chiseled 

 by both sexes, usually to the depth of about fourteen inches. 

 Three to seven pure white eggs are laid. 



THE RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER* 



The Red-breasted Sapsucker is a resident of the Pacific 

 Coast, ranging from northern Lower California northward 

 to southern Alaska. It extends its flight and breeds as far 

 east as the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains. It 

 belongs to the family of woodpeckers. 



Like its eastern relative, the yellow-bellied sapsucker, it 

 punctures trees, possibly in order to feed upon the exuding 

 sap or the insects attracted by its flow. The adult birds are 

 beautifully marked with crimson on the head and breast, 

 while in the young the color is brownish and the yellow of 

 the belly is wanting. 



These birds seem to prefer aspen trees for their homes, 

 selecting one which is a foot or more in diameter near the 

 ground. They excavate a cavity in the trunk several feet 

 from the ground, the door of which, a small round hole, less 

 than two inches in diameter, seems far too small for the 

 parent birds to enter. 



These sapsuckers are watchful and devoted parents, and 

 cases have been reported where the mother bird has been 

 easily captured because of her refusal to leave her young. 



As a rule, but a single brood is raised each season. There 



