TEEES ATTACKED BY WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKEE. 53 



THE MYRTLE FAMILY (MYRTACE^E). 



Blue gum {Eucalyptus globulus). — This species is injured by the 

 red-breasted sapsucker (Ellwood Cooper, Santa Barbara, Cal., Jan. 

 22, 1909). "A number [of sapsuckers] have taken a fancy to a big 

 blue gum tree in the yard, where on warm, sunny days they ... go 

 to peck holes and suck the rich sap that flows freely in the cold fall 

 months" (Emerson). 



TREES ATTACKED BY THE WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKER. 



(Sphyrapicus thyroideus .) 



Bull pine (Pinus ponderosa). — "Many grills of borings were seen 

 in the bark of yellow pines and firs at Bluff Lake [Cal.] which I 

 ascribed to this species" (Grinnell, 1908). A specimen from Pine 

 Grove, Mont., collected by Joseph Brunner (H. 8516), is riddled with 

 pecks, vertical strips of bark being cleanly removed. 



Lodgepole pine (Pinus murrayana) . — Bel ding remarks that Wil- 

 liamson sapsuckers were ' ' breeding in living tamaracks and covered 

 with their resinous juices," which implies that the trees were tapped. 



Pine (species not given). — Merrill notes that this sapsucker is 

 ' ' partial to young pines, with the soft inner bark of which, and frag- 

 ments of insects, the stomachs of adults are usually filled." 



White fir (Abies concolor). — See quotation from Grinnell under 

 Bull pine. 



SUMMARY OF INJURIES JEOPARDIZING THE VIGOR OR LIFE 

 OF TREES. 



Condensing the information contained in the foregoing lists, we 

 find that the yellow-bellied sapsucker attacks no fewer than 246 

 species of native trees and 6 vines, besides 31 kinds of introduced 

 trees. Twenty-nine of these trees and 1 vine aie known to be some- 

 times killed and 28 others are much disfigured or seriously reduced in 

 vitality. 



The red-breasted sapsucker, a bird much less observed, is known 

 to attack 20 species of trees and shrubs, to damage individuals of at 

 least 11 of them, and sometimes to kill members of 8 species. Con- 

 sidering the smaller range of this sapsucker and our comparative 

 unfamiliarity with its habits, there is little doubt that bird for bird 

 it is fully as detrimental to trees as the more widespread yellow-bellied 

 woodpecker. 



The Williamson sapsucker is here recorded as attacking 3 species 

 of the pine family. 



Combining the statistics for the 3 species of sapsuckers, we find 

 that they are known to attack 258 trees, shrubs, and vines of 45 

 native families. These families are represented by 603 arborescent 



