BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 285 



only incidental, and unavoidable to their destruction of insects 

 which are the real destroyers of the trees, and whose work is 

 usually charged to the woodpeckers. They cannot equally be 

 defended against the charge of destroying fruit sometimes, but 

 we can afford them a reasonable apology when we credit them 

 with the destruction of so many of its worst enemies. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Head and neck all around crimson red, margined by a narrow 

 crescent of black on the upper part of the breast; back, pri- 

 mary quills and tail bluish-black; under parts generally, a 

 broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump, 

 white; iris hazel; bill and feet bluish-black. 



Sexes alike. 



Length, 9.75; wing, 5.50; (tail not given). 



Habitat, United States, west to the Rocky mountains, strag- 

 glers reaching Salt Lake valley; rare, or local east of the 

 Hudson river. 



COLAPTES AURATIS (L ). (412.) 

 FLICKER. 



At once the most abundant, and extensively distributed of 

 all of the woodpeckers which \'isit Minnesota. It reaches us 

 early in April, and remains until late in October, individuals 

 lingering not altogether infrequently into November. The 

 dates through a series of annual records give March 28th 

 April 1st, 5th, 8th. 10th, &c. 



I have heard rumors of individuals of this species having 

 been seen at different times in the winter, but not sufficiently 

 authenticated for unqualified acceptance. As I have known to 

 be the case with several other even less hardy species, it is 

 possible that a wound might have disabled the bird temporarily 

 for its migratorial flight, and when able to endure it, find the 

 winter upon it so fully as to intimidate it for the effort. It 

 certainly is no place for such after the holidays. The places 

 chosen for the nest may be on the whole a little more elevated, 

 but otherwise their habits in no way differ from the others of 

 its family. 



The nests are constructed, and the full five to six pure white 

 translucent eggs deposited by the 1st to the 10th of May. 



None other bird of its entire order is so welcome, coming 

 back among the earliest after the severe, prolonged, irksome 

 winter has finally gone, with its cheery hurrah, the nearest 

 expression to which I can formulate being in hurric-ah, hur- 



