YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 29 



It is to tliis species that the term 'Sapsucker' is most often and 

 most justly applied, for it drills holes in the bark of certain trees and 

 drinks the sap. It feeds also on cambium, insects, and wild fruits and 

 berries. 



In writing of the habits of these woodpeckers in northern ]S'ew York 

 in 1878, Dr. Merriam states : 



They really do considerable mischief by drilling holes in the bark of apple, thorn- 

 iapple, and mountain ash trees in such a way as to form girdles of punctures, some- 

 times 2 feet or more in breadth (up and down), about the trunks and branches. 

 * * * The holes, which are sometimes merely single punctures, and sometimes 

 squarish spaces (multiple punctures) nearly half an inch across, are placed so near 

 together that not unfrequeutly they cover more of the tree than the remaining bark. 

 Hence, more than half of the bark is sometimes removed from the girdled portions, 

 and the balance often dries up and comes off. Therefore it is not surprising that 

 trees which have been extensively girdled generally die, and mountain ash are much 

 more prone to do so than either apple or thornapple trees, due, very likely, to their 

 more slender stems. The motive which induces this species to operate thus u^Don 

 young and healthy trees is, I think, but partly understood. It is unquestionably 

 true that they feed, to a certain extent, both upon the inner bark and the fresh sap 

 from these trees, but that the procurement of these two elements of sustenance, 

 gratifying as they doubtless are, is their chief aim in making the punctures I am 

 inclined to dispute. As the saji exudes from the newly-made punctures, thousands 

 of flies, yellow jackets, and other insects congregate about the place, till the hum of 

 their wings suggests a swarm of bees. If, now, the tree be watched, the woodpecker 

 will soon be seen to return and alight over the part of the girdle which he has most 

 recently punctured. Here he remains, with motionless body, and feasts upon the 

 choicest species from the host of insects within easy reach. * * * In making 

 each girdle they work around the trunk, and from below upwards, but they may 

 begin a new girdle below an old one. They make but few holes each day, and after 

 completing two or three remain over the spot for some little time, and as the clear 

 fresh sap exudes and trickles down the bark they place their bill against the depen- 

 dent drop and suck it in with evident relish — a habit which has doubtless given rise 

 to the more appropriate than elegant term Sapsucker, by which they are commonly 

 known in some parts of the country. I have several times watched this performance 

 at a distance of less than 10 feet, and all the details of the process were distinctly 

 seen, the bird looking at me, meanwhile, ' out of the corner of his eye.' When his 

 thirst is satisfied he silently disappears, and as silently returns again, after a few 

 hours, to feast upon the insects that have been attracted to the spot by the escaping 

 sap. This bird, then, by a few strokes of its bill, is enabled to secure both food (ani- 

 mal and vegetable) and drink in abundance for an entire day; and a single tree, 

 favorably situated, may suffice for a whole season. ' 



The late Frank Bolles has published some interesting detailed obser- 

 vations respecting- the food habits of the Sapsucker. His conclusions 

 are: 



That the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is in the habit for successive years of drill- 

 ing the canoe birch, red maple, red oak, white ash, and probably other trees, for the 

 purpose of taking from them the elaborated sap, and in some cases parts of the cam- 

 bium layer; that the birds consume the sap in large quantities for its own sake and 

 not for insect matter which such sap may chance occasionally to contain ; that the 

 Bap attracts many insects of various species, a few of which form a considerable 

 part of the food of this bird, but whose capture does not occupy its time to any- 



1 Bull. Nuttall Omith. Club, Vol. IV, January, 1879, pp. 3-5. 



