THAYER] HOURS WITH THE FLICKERS 233 



directly in front of the opening. At 5.22, the male came near, 

 flattened himself on a large branch, and slowly scolded. Thir- 

 teen minutes later, the female came to the home tree, six feet 

 over the opening, where she and the male "talked it over" in 

 low tones. In just three minutes (5.38), my Lady Flicker 

 climbed backward down to the opening where she fed three little 

 ones, which were half out of the nest. She then went into the 

 nest with her back to me, but she was not quite sure of me even 

 yet, for she came out quickly and flew away. 



July 12, 6.55-8 A. M. — As I passed the nest, I looked in, and 

 put my hand in. The young flickers all buzzed and hummed, and 

 just after I sat down in front of the pile of brush, one gave a trial 

 "wick" cry three times. Still there seems to be no recognition 

 of the cries of the old birds, and nothing but the scratching sound 

 of the parents' feet brings the young to the opening. I brought 

 my glasses from force of habit, but laughed as I sat down to think 

 I had done so. What need has one of bird-glasses at eight feet? 

 At 7.08, the female came. She seemed to remember that I had 

 been there the night before, and no harm had befallen either her 

 or her nestlings, so there was no hesitation. She came directly 

 to the opening, where five heads appeared. She fed two of her 

 young, and then flew away. While feeding the young, the tail 

 was used for a brace, and there was a slight quiver of the wings. 

 The head jerked up and down as it might while hammering on 

 the bark, and the movement was just as forcible. The bill, over 

 one and a half inches long, was all in the young birds' mouth 

 which was closed tightly over it. The food was pure white 

 always, as I saw particles of it left on the tip of the inother's 

 beak, as she drew it from one little bird's rhouth and put it into 

 that of the next one to be fed. Once I saw nearly two inches of 

 her long extensile tongue as she extended it for an instant. 

 Occasionally this morning, I heard a baby flicker give a tap on 

 the inside of the tree as if he were learning how. I never heard 

 a tapping sound from either of the old birds. There was a sub- 

 dued buzz, almost continually from the young, and every few 

 moments one would come up to the opening and calmly watch 

 me. I took them out, and found that the markings were more 

 pronounced, the ten pointed tail feathers almost fully grown, 

 even the two extra abortive ones. 



July 12 (continued), 11. 10 a. m. -12.05 p. m. — I went out to the 



