42 
NOTES ON THE FOOD OF BIRDS 
injurious insects, and while the rows of holes it makes in the 
trunks of apple trees are familiar enough, it is not apparent 
that the ensuing damage is very great in our dry climate'. 
Dr. J. B. Smith has written thus of the injuries caused 
by woodpeckers in New Jersey: “Now comes another fac¬ 
tor—the woodpecker and its allies, that make war upon the 
borers. They peck and hammer away at infested spots, and 
many a fat borer falls prey to their activity and industry; 
but whenever they haul out a specimen they leave a hole, and 
that is, too often, an entrance point for the water, that, after 
all, is as much to be dreaded in the tree as it is useful when 
it reaches the roots through the soil. ” 
But in New Mexico these lioles'seem to heal up readily, 
though they may leave scars which would affect the value of 
the wood. Water is not so plentiful with us as in New Jersey, 
and the growth of harmful fungi is not so readily stimulated 
by an injury or perforation of the bark. Dr. Coues, than 
whom there is no more eminent authority, says of wood¬ 
peckers: “They dig insects and their larvae out of trees, 
and are eminently beneficial to the agriculturist and fruit¬ 
grower. Contrary to a prevalent impression, their boring 
does not seem to injure fruit trees, which may be riddled 
with holes without harmful result.” 
Mr. F. J. Birtwell has noticed the red-naped sapsucker, 
Williamson’s sapsucker and Baird’s woodpecker, all feeding 
on the sap of apple trees in New Mexico, as he informs me 
in a letter. This would seem to convict the two latter birds, 
as well as the first mentioned, of injurious habits; but it is 
probable that they do little if any harm, and much good. 
Prof. A. J. McClatcliie has lately recorded that the Gila 
woodpecker devours the ripening dates in Salt River Valley, 
Arizona, and is thus quite destructive. 
The Red=Naped Sapsucker 
This bird is of medium size mottled with black and white. 
In the adult male, the crown of the head, and the throat, are 
bright crimson; behind the red of the throat is a large black 
patch, while the under parts behind this are dirty white, 
