368 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



eats into these in much the same manner that the Redhead attacks apples 

 at the north, but it rejects the skin and seeds, eating only the pulp. In 

 Michigan the bird is too scarce to have any economic importance. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult male: Entire top of head and back of neck, from bill to shoulders, bright scarlet; 

 remainder of upper parts, including wings, closely and evenly barred with glossy black 

 and jjure white, the'rump and upper tail-coverts not quite so thickly marked with black; 

 sides of head, and entire imder parts, ashy gray of varying depth, sometimes tinged with 

 salmon on throat and breast, and the middle of the belly always strongly washed with 

 scarlet, sometimes almost as bright as the crown; middle tail-feathers black at tip, largely 

 white elsewhere; lateral tail-feathers barred with black and white; bill black; iris red. 



Adult female: Similar to male, but the red of the head restricted to the nasal tufts, 

 occiput and nape, most of the top of the head ashy gray, like the breast; the red of the 

 belly is likely also to be fainter and less extensive, sometimes hardly more than a reddish 

 tinge. 



Young birds are similar as regards pattern of coloration to adults of the same sex, but 

 are always much duller, the red of the head usually lacking altogether, the belly often 

 merely washed with buffy, and the black and white markings less sharply defined. 



Length 9 to 10.10 inches; wing 4.85 to 5.50; tail 3.50 to 3.95; culmen 1 to L20. 



172. Flicker. Colaptes auratus luteus Bangs. (412) 



Synonyms: Northern Flicker, High-hole, Heigh-ho, High-holder, Wake-up, Wick-up, 

 Clape, Golden-winged Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Yellow-hammer, Pigeon 

 Woodpecker, Wood-pigeon, etc. — Cuculus auratus, Linn., 1758. — Colaptes auratus. Swains., 

 1827, and most later writers. — Colaptes auratus luteus. Bangs, 1898. 



Plate XXXVII. 



The golden yellow of the lower surfaces of wings and tail, and the profuse 

 circular black spots ("polka-dots") of breast, sides and belly, are peculiar 

 to this species. The first mentioned character is a good field mark when the 

 bird passes above the observer, and the conspicuous white rump is an even 

 better mark as it flies away from him. 



Distribution. — In summer northern and eastern North America from 

 North Carolina northward to Canada. In winter southward probably 

 beyond the limits of the United States, but records confused with those 

 of the southern form. Breeds throughout its summer range. 



This is an abundant summer resident of the entire state and in most 

 sections is commonly referred to as the most abundant woodpecker. A few 

 individuals remain all winter, particularl}^ in the southern third of the 

 state, but the great majority move southward in September and October 

 and do not return until the following April. 



This w^oodpecker.. differs widely in its habits from most others of the 

 family, getting a large proportion of its food from the ground and a cor- 

 respondingly small amount from the trees. In correlation with this habit 

 its bill is more curved and less chisel-shaped than in other members of the 

 family and it does not dig so readily into dead wood either soft or hard. 

 Apparently it never digs into living trees. 



Its food consists largely of insects, among which ants form by far the 

 largest item. It is exceptional to examine a stomach wdiich does not 

 contain ants, and the average stomach contains hundreds, sometimes 

 even thousands. These are mainly ground-inhabiting species and of little 

 economic importance, so that the Flicker does no harm and possibly some 

 good by eating them. Two hundred and thirty stomachs examined at the 



