168 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



out the winter at Leighton and Greensboro. It was seen at 

 Piedmont (October), Ashford (November), Orange Beach 

 (January), Jackson (February), Dean (March), Barachias 

 (March 7), Mobile (March 24), Jackson Lake (March 27), 

 Ardell (March 27), Tuscaloosa (April 4), and Sand Moun- 

 tain near Carpenter (April 10). 



The species is recorded as arriving at Leighton, September 

 28, 1889, and October 1, 1893 (McCormack), at Greensboro, 

 September 28, 1889, and October 8, 1887 (Avery), and at 

 Anniston, October 8, 1916 (Dean) . Saunders records it abun- 

 dant at Woodbine, March 7-24, last seen March 29 (1908).* 



General habits. — During its sojourn in the South this bird 

 is rather quiet and inconspicuous. McCormack says of it: 



While with us in the winter it is a solitary bird, generally 

 frequenting the high timber in bottomlands, where its mournful, 

 cat-like cry, heard at intervals on a cloudy, winter day from 

 the bare branches overhead, seems strangely in keeping with 

 its surroundings.! 



Food habits. — This is the only one of the woodpeckers found 

 in Alabama which in its feeding habits is seriously injurious. 

 As its name indicates, it is a true "sapsucker," and its food 

 consists mainly of the sap and inner bark of orchard and 

 forest trees, including apple, birch, maple, oak, ash, and 

 others. Many insects, chiefly ants, are consumed, as well as a 

 variety of wild fruits and berries. The damage to timber 

 by this bird, especially in the Southern States, is serious. 

 The trunks of trees are frequently girdled with a series of 

 deep punctures, which not only result in disfiguring the wood 

 and reducing its value as lumber, but in many cases cause the 

 death of the trees. The species most often attacked in the 

 South are long-leaf pine, bald cypress, black walnut, hickory, 

 oak, maple, holly, and basswood.J 



If control measures are used against sapsuckers it should be 

 borne in mind that the other small woodpeckers commonly 

 known as "sapsuckers" are not to be included with the present 



•Saunders, A. A., The Auk, vol. 2B, p. 418, 1908. 

 tLeighton (Ala.) News, vol. 2, No. 14, July 15, 1891. 



jConsult McAtee, Woodpeckers in relation to trees and wood products : Biol. Surv. 

 Bull. 39, 1911. 



