RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 31 



interest they must be reckoned in the bird's favor. On the other 

 hand, the damage this sapsucker inflicts in eating the cambium and 

 sap of trees is so serious that it more than counterbalances any good 

 that the bird does in other directions. Investigations show that the 

 damage to timber, especially in the Southern States, is extensive and 

 serious. 1 



RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 



(Sphyrapicus ruber and subsp.) 



The red-breasted sapsucker is confined to the Pacific coast region, 

 and ranges from central Lower California in winter, north in summer 

 through California, Oregon, and Washington to Alaska. Naturally 

 it seems to be a forest bird, but it takes kindly to orchards and 

 ranches. It is migratory to a slight extent, but summers as far 

 south as the San Bernardino Mountains. It makes, however, a 

 minor migration in many localities by descending the mountains to 

 the valleys, in which it winters. ' 



Speaking guardedly of this bird, Maj. Charles Bendire says: 



I am inclined to think that this species does not indulge in the habit of girdling 

 trees for the sap and the soft inner bark (cambium) to the same extent that Sphyra- 

 picus varius does; at any rate, not during the breeding season. 2 



On the other hand, Prof. Cook, of Claremont, California, gives the 

 following direct testimony: 



Sphyrapicus ruber is the sapsucker of southern California. It taps fruit trees, espe- 

 cially prune and apricot, and evergreens. Its mischief seems much more serious 

 than that of its congener of the East, as trees are frequently killed by reason of its 

 punctures, although these latter are more distant and less numerous. I never knew 

 a tree to be killed by the sapsuckers in Michigan. The evil in California is wrought 

 in summer, when the dry season has enfeebled the tree, and this is a possible expla- 

 nation of the more serious harm to the trees of this region. 3 



In the face of this conflicting testimony we may infer that the 

 habits of the bird vary with the locality. 



In Oregon the writer observed trees of white birch and mountain 

 ash growing in a village yard which were badly injured by this bird. 



Only 34 stomachs of this species were available for examination, 

 and none were taken in the months from April to August, inclusive, 

 while 29, or five-sixths of all, were collected in October, November, 

 and December. Only some general ideas of the food can be expected 

 from so little material. 



In the first analysis we find practically 69 per cent of animal food 

 to 31 of vegetable. 



Animal food. — This species is a much greater insect eater than 

 S. varius. Ants, the largest item, amount to 42.49 per cent. They 



1 A bulletin upon this subject is in preparation by W. L. McAtee. 



2 Bendire, Maj. Charles, Life Histories of North American Birds, II, 94, 1895. 



3 Cook, A. J., Auk, XIII, 85, 1896. 



