BIRDS OF KANSAS. 339 



bands of black. Neck above and on the sides ashy. Beneath, pale pinkish 

 brown, tinged with yellow on the abdomen, each feather with a heartrshaped 

 spot of black near the end. Rump white." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 12.50 20.00 6.20 4..50 1.10 1.30 



Female... 12.35 19.50 6.15 4.35 1.10 1.25 



Iris dark brown; bill slate blue; legs and feet ashj or light 

 lead color; claws horn blue. 



This well known, familiar bird is as much at home on our 

 prairies as within the wooded districts. Mr. Langille, in his in- 

 teresting work, "Our Birds in their Haunts," says: 



"Next to the Eobin, Bluebird or Barn Swallow, few mem- 

 bers of the feathered tribes are better known than the 'Flicker,' 

 'High-hole,' 'Yellow-hammer,' etc., for the Golden-wing is 

 known bj all these names. His several notes are among the 

 most characteristic sounds of spring, at which time he is thor- 

 oughly noisy. Coming from the South in large numbers, late 

 in March or early in April, ascending some tall, dry tree top, at 

 early dawn, he announces himself, either by a sonorous rapping 

 on the dry wood, or by a loud squealing, but jovial call, "Chee- 

 ah, chee-ah," which, once noted, is not easily forgotten. But 

 even this latter is not half so awakening as a certain prolonged 

 strain, nearly two syllables in regular repetition, something like 

 "Whric'k-ah, whric'k-ah, whric'k-ah, whric'k-ah, whric'k-ah, 

 whric'k-ah." This vocal performance, meant for a song, no 

 doubt, is a mere rollicking racket, toned down, indeed, amidst 

 the many voices of spring, and even rendered pleasing by its 

 good-natured hilarity. How significant is that little love note, 

 "Yu-cah," half guttural, half whisper, which he repeats at in- 

 tervals, as he flits about the solitude of the forest in spring, or 

 plays bo-peep with his lover, around the broken-ofl top or Hmb 

 of some dead tree. 



"His flight is swift, vigorous and dashing; is performed in 

 curves by a few flaps of the wings, curving upward several feet, 

 when alighting on the trunk of a tree, but ending horizontally 

 when ahghting crosswise on a limb, after the manner of perch- 

 ing birds. In manner, as in structure, he is not precisely like 



