The sun., 1900-12-23
SECRET or BIRDskYB MAPLE.
An Old Maine woedsman Discovers work
for His Tame woodpeckers.

PATTES. Me, Dec l<-After having spent
moro than 81 ty years and moro than $4,000
In hunting bears and studying the ways OF
wild creatures, Greenleaf Davis has begun
to raise tame woodpeckers with the purpose
OF using them to convert ordinary rock
naples into tho rare and costly wood known
as birdseye maple Mr.. Davis is more than
so. sixty years ago he inherited a mill prop
erty valued at $4,000. which he soon sold
and then he went to the woods under the side
OF Mount Kathahdin. Here he built a log
camp and spent much OF his time on the
trail OF bears and Indian devils Of which he
has killed more than any other man In Maine.
II has been Mr. Davis's belief that no
creature should be kept In captivity more
than month. II the creatures he caught
chose TO remain with him after that period
they were welcome 10 such fare as he could
afford to give. II they wanted to go. the
doors were open. Ia this way he has tanned
squirrels. muskrats ard woodchucks until
they and their offspring nearly overran his
camp. With birds he has been less successful.
becau So most Of them went away South
az the annual migrations, and when they came
back i any did come back they ,ba,, Wer. un,
anything that Mr. Davis could ofer. He
has two crows, one of which Is more than
80 wears old which have stayed by him and
never sought the soclety of their kind. Two
robins lived with him for three years. but
pcri.hed one cot night when the camp iire
woodpecker- of which he now has nearly
one hundred They are Of the hairy and
hut more than both of these in number and
esteem are the red-headed slpsuckers
which pick round holes IN the bark Of trees,
styled COlHnder
As these ,woodreckers did not migrate.
Nr Davis had company the wear round.
lie pu, W boxes for them to occupy as homes
and in few ycars the marie grove back
Of his camp was flled with hlrds The, yellow
hammer !, The only species of tho woodpecker
family that Will live without insect food.
and after the sarsuckers grew very numerous,
Mr. Davis had much trouble TO feed them.
IIa dug NJ the ant hills and sifted the sand
out 20 get the insects for his birds, but in
spite Of h!s, labors. tho red-headed wood
digging holes in his best naples and i'm
pairing the flow Of sap; from which much
Of his living was derived
OF the company they afforded. and II was
equally impossible To live Without the income
from the sap orchard The old man spent
wounds which the birds inflicted on the bark
As the scars healed b" noticed that here
rcc'lv below the wound II the tree was
badly marRad the red spots were moro numer-
forrcd less, while on trees which the wood
peCkcrs had not visited there were no traces
of red.
About this time II occurred to him that n.
the beautiful markings of hrdseye maple
were du. TO tho red spots in the wood and az
nobody had over been able TO account for
them. II was possible Tint the variety Of maple
known rs hrdseye might owe its origin TO
the work of the woodpeCkors II so. he had
made u discovery that had bafred botarists
for years He had also learned how 10 make
his colony Of tame woodpeckers self-,up-
porting
By mixing the ants. which he sifts from
the sand. with paste formed from elm bark
boiled down 10 n thick batter. 10 can smear
the trunks Of thrifty naples with such food
la % q W hoy
arc getting n meal from the bark their bills
are boring new holes In the trees that shall
transform ordinary maple wood. worth no
more than sI2 n thousand feet. into hirdscye
maple that soils anywhere for $50 and SEQ a
thousand. aud tho dealers cannot get all
they want at those prices