The Williamson Sapsucker 
Williamson Sapsuckers occur chiefly in pine timber at the middle and 
upper levels of our higher ranges. They are especially common in the 
east central Sierras; and although they occupy the same general territory, 
they shun the quaking asp and other deciduous trees, which are the special 
province of the Red-breasted Sapsuckers. Except for a rolling call, a 
rhythmical drumming on wood, which is like a call to arms in the quiet 
forests, the Williamson Sapsuckers are rather silent birds. Food, which 
consists chiefly of ants with a little sauce ot flying insects and a flavor of 
sap, is easily obtained. Hence, the birds do not wander far, nor make 
them selves very conspicuous. 
While bird-nesting in the service of the M. C. O. in the summer of 
1919, I sighted a female of this species, the rather reluctant subject of 
one of the accompanying illustrations, in a small pine-clad valley near 
Lake Mary, one of the “Mammoth” group in southern Mono County. 
We followed her course for some minutes as she sucked sap, first from one 
pine sapling, then from another; finally she caught a fly midair with a 
swift fillip, then beat a straight course across the valley and was lost 
Taken in Mono County Photo by the Author 
A TYPICAL NESTING SITE 
PINE WITH DEAD TOP NEAR CENTER 
IOl 8 
