Teachers^ Leaflet. 



529 



country; Yarup, Golden-winged Woodpecker, High Hole, Clape, and Yellow Ham- 

 mer are a few of its names. It excavates and builds its nest by chopping out with; 

 its strong beak the wood from a tree or post, usually selecting one that is more or 

 less decayed. The hole is quite deep and its opening may be from four to fifty 

 feet above the ground. The eggs may be from four to ten in number; they are 

 white and are laid during the last of May. The parent takes the food into its own 

 stomach and partially digests it ; then thrusting its long bill down the throat of the 

 young one it pumps the partially digested food into it "kerchug," "kerchug," until 

 it seems as if the young one must be shaken to its foundations. The chief food 

 of the flicker is ants ; it also eats beetles, flies and wild fruit but does little or mo 

 damage to planted crops or fruits. So long has this species fed upon ants that 

 the tongue has become modified like that of the ant-eater; it is covered witE ai 

 mucilaginous secretion and when it is thrust into an ant-hill all of the little citi^- 

 zens in bravely attacking the intruder become glued fast to it and are thus with- 

 drawn and transferred to the capacious stomach of the bird. The flicker is a 

 true woodpecker; its tail is composed of stiff feathers which act as a prop when 

 it climbs a tree ; two of its toes are directed forward and two backward in order 

 to enable it to cling more closely to a tree trunk. 



References : — Andubon Educational Leaflet No. 5 ; " Bird Neighbors," 

 Blanchan ; " Birds of YiWage and Field," IMerriam ; " The Woodpeckers,," 

 Eckstorm; "The Food of Woodpeckers," Beal, Bulletin United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



THE MAIZE. 



Preliminary work.^-thx?, study may be be- 

 gun in the spring when corn is planted giving 

 the pupils an outline for observations to be 

 made on the plant during its growth ; or it 

 may be studied in the autumn as a mature 

 plant. Maize is among the most beautiful and 

 interesting plants in the world ; it is native tec 

 America, the first white men who came to oUf 

 shores finding it extensively cultivated by the 

 Indians. Perhaps a good way to arouse the 

 interest of a child in the plant is to tell him 

 how important a part it played during the 

 settling of America by the whites. Had it not 

 been for maize our pilgrim ancestors would 

 surely have starved before they could have 

 cleared off the forests and prepared the fields, 

 so that wheat and rye would have grown in ' 

 them. They did not need to plow or to clear ^ 

 off forests in order to raise corn ; the trees 

 were girdled which killed their tops and let in 

 the light ; the rich earth was scratched a lit- 

 tle with some primitive tool and the seed put 

 in and covered ; the plants took care of them- 

 selves and yielded food for the winter needs. 



/ 



■ r 



> 



%-. 



Yankee " or -flint corn, much grotvn 

 in the northeastern country. 



