THE WOODPECKERS 



737 



particularly the flickers and red-headed \vood|)eckers. 

 Some make roosting holes for the winter or for the male 

 bird while the female is incubating. In Europe several 

 species of woodpeckers have come to use artificial nest- 

 ing boxes put up for them, but, in this country, the 

 flicker is, as yet, the only one that does so regularly. 

 Other species will undoubtedly learn to do so as time 

 goes on and available dead trees become scarcer and 

 nesting boxes more ]jlentiful. 



To be acceptable to a flicker, a nesting box should be 

 from six to eight inches square inside, and from 18 

 inches to two feet deep. The hole should measure two 

 and a half to three inches in diameter and should be on 

 one side, a couple of inches from the top. The inside of 

 the box should be rough. The best place for the box is 

 15 or more feet from the ground, on the straight bole of 

 a tree free from branches, on a dead tree, or on the top 

 of a tree that has been cut ofT. Inasmuch as woodpeckers 

 build no nests at the bottom of their holes, but merely 

 lay their eggs on the chips at the bottom, it is necessary 



THE HO.MING BIRD 



A flicker coming home to the nest that it has occupied for three successive 

 years. The scatTol<iing and tlie box at tlie right show how the next plio- 

 tograph was secured, the camera being put in place of the box and the 

 shutter worked with a string, 



to put about two inches of sawdust or ground cork in 

 the bottom of the box to keep the eggs from rolling 

 around. 



Woodpeckers have no true song and their call notes 

 are inclined to be harsh and unmusical. In place of a 

 song, the males, and possibly the females at times, have 

 a loud rolling tattoo which they make by hammering 

 with the bill upon a dead limb, a loose piece of bark, a 

 drain pipe, tin roof or other resonant surface. 



The most striking member of the woodpecker family 

 in North America is the red-headed sjjecies, found from 

 Ontario to the Gulf and from Colorado to the Atlantic 



"BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER" 



A downy and hairy woodpecker at a feeding station. When they are seen 

 together the ditTerence in size is very apparent but otllerwise the two 

 species are easily confused. 



although for some reason it is rather rare in some locali- 

 ties, i)articularly in New England. Males and females 

 are alike with the entire head a deep red, the back and 

 most of the wings blue black and the secondaries of the 

 wings, the lower back and underparts pure white, giving 

 them a most conspicuous ap])earance, es])ecially in flight. 

 The males of many species of woodpeckers have more 



THE FLICKER AT ITS .\EST 



Note the feet with two toes forward and two backward, characteristic of 

 the family. The flicker's bill is slightly curved and more pointed than 

 other members and his habits are different. 



