14 



FOOD OF SOME WELL-KNOWN BIEDS. 



of the finished product on account of tlie appearance of bird pecks 

 unnoticed before. 



It lias been found that sapsucker work unfits for use such impor- 

 tant ornamental woods as mahogany, black Avalnut, white oak, yellow 

 poplar, chestnut, cherry, sweet gum, and hard maple ; that it seriously 

 blemishes woods prized for particular qualities, such as ash, bass- 

 wood, cypress, red cedar, holly, buckeye, dogwood, and hickory; 

 and that it sometimes destroys the value of wood even for heavy 

 construction, as southern basswood, Engelmann spruce, and western 

 hemlock. Defects due to sapsucker work have been found- in the 

 wood of 174 species of trees. In 90 of these they at times become so 



© 





§^ 



V^j 



Fig. 4. — yellow-bellied sapsucker. 



serious as to spoil the appearance or workability of the wood, and in 

 22 species they render the wood useless, except for coarse construc- 

 tion or for fuel. 



It is evident that sapsuckers do not deserve protection. One of 

 the three species — ^Williamson's sapsucker — on account of its prefer- 

 ence for mountainous regions, takes little or no part in the damage 

 above detailed. The other two species, bird for bird, are probably 

 equally injurious. The red-breasted supsucker lives west of the 

 Eocky Mountains and is the only woodpecker of that region that 

 has the whole head and throat red. The yellow-bellied sapsucker 

 (fig. 4) of transcontinental range is the only woodpecker having the 



506 



