HOME BIRDS 63 



Is thrust out, the ants stick to it and are caught in 

 such numbers that as many as 3,000 have been found 

 in the stomach of one Flicker. 



To his fare of grubs and ants Flicker adds fruit. 

 The berries of the Virginia creeper and sour gum 

 are among his favorites and he is also fond of wild 

 cherries, pokeberries, berries of the dogwood, moun- 

 tain ash and many others. Flicker therefore draws 

 his supply of food from the ground and from the 

 trunks of trees, as well as from the fruit they bear. 



In appearance Flicker, to my mind, is one of the 

 most attractive of our birds. His costume contains 

 many beautiful colors combined in a striking but 

 pleasing variety of patterns. The black crescent on 

 his breast and scarlet band on his nape, the flash, 

 or ^'flicker" of yellow revealed in his wings when he 

 flies; the large white spot that shows so conspicu- 

 ously on his lower back when he goes bounding 

 away from us in his graceful, undulating flight, all 

 distinguish him from other birds and, together with 

 his habits and notes, have won him many names. 

 Among over one hundred others, he has been called 

 Crescent-Bird, Golden-winged Woodpecker, and 

 Cotton Rump; High-hole, Yarrup and Yellowham- 

 mer. These all show that Flicker is known far and 

 wide, as any national bird should be. In fact, 

 Flicker seems to possess in a high degree all but one 



