HAIRY WOODPECKER. 451 
which is left only just sufficient for the passage of the parties. 
The depth of the cavity is about 15 inches, and the eggs, 4 or 
upwards, are white. The principal food of these birds is insects, 
for they sometimes bore the trunks of the orchard trees. 
The “sapsucking ” habit of this species, denied by some of our 
most eminent naturalists, has been established by Mr. Frank 
Bolles, who published an interesting account of his observations in 
“The Auk” for July, 1891. 
For several days Mr. Bolles almost continuously watched a 
number of these birds while they operated on trees in the vicinity 
of his summer home at Chicarua, N. H. The birds drilled holes 
in maple, oak, birch, and ash trees, and drank the sap as it dripped 
from these holes. When one set of holes became “dry,” others 
were drilled, eight to sixteen on each tree, the new holes being 
made higher up than the old. Some of the birds spent about 
nine tenths of the time in drinking the sap. Mr. Bolles placed 
under the trees cups made of birch bark and filled with maple 
syrup, which the birds drank freely. Later brandy was added, 
with amusing consequences, the mixture finally acting as an emetic. 
He moreover states that the sap was not used as a trap for insects, 
as some writers have supposed; and while the birds caught insects 
occasionally, these did not appear to form a large part of their diet. 
An examination of the stomachs of a few birds revealed but little 
insect remains, and that little was composed chiefly of ants. 
HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
DRYOBATES VILLOSUS. 
CuHar, Above, black and white, the back with long, slender, loose 
hair-like feathers; beneath, white; outer tail-feathers white. Male with 
scarlet band at back of head, which in the female is black. In immature 
birds the crown is more or less tinged with red, or, sometimes with 
yellow. Length 8% to g inches. 
Nest. In open woodland, pasture, or orchard; a cavity in a dead 
trunk, without lining. 
L£ggs. 4-5; white and glossy; 1.00 X 0.70. 
This common and almost familiar species is a resident 
in most parts of America, from Hudson Bay to Florida, fre- 
