% 
WOODPECKERS I N RELATION TO TREES. 
cambium, the securing of which results in serious damage, as shown 
in (lie preceding pages. 
HOW TO RECOGNIZE SAPSUCKERS. 
Plate I (frontispiece) and Plate II (p. 16) will serve to identify 
the sapsuckers better than pages of printed descriptions, and there- 
fore only a few marked color differences will be mentioned here. All 
sapsuckers have yellow bellies, few other woodpeckers have; all sap- 
suckers have a conspicuous white patch on the upper part of the 
wing, as seen from the side when clinging to a tree; white wing 
patches in other woodpeckers are on the middle or lower part of the 
wings. The yellow- 
bellied sapsucker of 
transcontinental 
range is the only 
woodpecker having 
the front of the head 
(i. e., from bill to 
crown) red in combi- 
nation with a black 
patch on the breast. 
The red-breasted sap- 
sucker lives west of 
the Rockies and is 
the only species there 
having the whole 
head and throat red. 
From 4 to 11 spe- 
cies of woodpeckers 
other than sapsuck- 
ers occur in various 
sections of the United 
I i<.. 12. Hairy woodpecker. Not a sapsucker. No black breast spot. 
Slates; hence a majority of woodpeckers seen are not sapsuckers. 
Several of these species are illustrated (figs. 38 to 44), and notes are 
given on the features distinguishing them from sapsuckers. 
DEFENSIVE MEASURES AGAINST SAPSUCKERS. 
Mr. ('. (i. Bates says of the eastern bird : 
The sapsucker spends onlj his winters in the hardwood region, and the greatest 
damage is done on warm winter days and in the Bpring jnst before migration. For 
tlii- reason hickories ahould not be planted, especially in the South, in situations 
where they will be started by t In* first warm days, hut rather where their rise of sap 
will be retarded. 
