PICUS THE FLICKER 171 



to dram lustily. And would you believe it, as soon as he 

 Lad left the red oak tree this flicker maiden pounced on 

 his rival and drove him away and then deliberately flew 

 back to her perch above Picus and his drum! Of course 

 she wasn't interested in Picus, but there might happen to 

 be a fat grub in this tree ! 



In due time Picus saw her and the performance started 

 over again. By noon the third day things were beginning 

 to be interesting. When the courtship was at its height I 

 saw at one time six flickers — Picus, his lady love, and four 

 other suitors — on a large dead limb in the top of a giant 

 oak tree. If you had been there and watched their actions 

 without having f oUowed the romance for the past two days 

 I am sure you never would have been able to tell which 

 of the suitors she favored. 



I was not present when the matter was finally settled, 

 but on the morning of the fourth day when Picus played 

 his morning tune on the tin dram, the young lady alighted 

 on a tree near by, but she did not fly away when he 

 alighted by her and began Iovb making. Instead they 

 nodded and chatted as friendly as could be, and then flew 

 together to the dead limb in the top of the great red oak 

 tree and began looking it over very carefully — for what 

 purpose I was not quite sure. This time when some of 

 her less fortunate suitors appeared, Picus did not hesitate 

 to let them know how matters stood, and his lady love, 

 with all her love for flirting, soon made it evident that 

 their presence was no longer welcome. When I came home 

 to dinner that day a new hole had been pecked more than 

 an inch deep in the side of a limb in the great oak. 



For nearly two weeks these woodpeckers played, hunted, 

 made love, and worked at their nest by turns. Judging 



