THE SAPSUCKER 21 



are girdled to death by this bird, but that trees of greater 

 endurance, Hke the apple and thorn-apple, are more able to 

 survive its attacks. Another observer, Mr. Frank Bolles, 

 declares that in well-wooded regions the damage it does is too 

 insignificant to justify its destruction. Mrs. Mabel Osgood 

 Wright states that in Connecticut, "where these birds are 

 plentiful, many orchard-owners cover the tree-trunks with 

 fine wire netting." 



"This species," says Professor Beal, "is probably the 

 most migratory of all our woodpeckers, breeding only in the 

 most northerly parts of the United States, and in some of the 

 mountains farther south. In the fall it ranges southward, 

 spending the winter in most of the eastern states. It is less 

 generally distributed than some of the other woodpeckers, 

 being quite unknown in some sections, and very abundant in 

 others." i 



In its general color scheme this is a bird of many and much- 

 mixed colors — black, white and yellowish indescribably varied 

 — both above and below. The top of the head and the throat 

 are bright red; and the sides of the head have two broad 

 streaks of white, and two of black. The name of the bird is 

 derived from the predominating greenish-yellow color of its 

 breast and abdomen. 



The Pacific coast has the Red-Naped Sapsucker, a sub- 

 species of the above, of similar tree-girdling habits; the Red- 

 Breasted Sapsucker, one of the commonest woodpeckers found 

 from Oregon to Lower California, and two others — the 

 Northern Red-Breasted and Williamson's. 



