374 Bird -Lore 



his home. First he outlines his doorway like this. (Make a circle with dots.) He gets 

 it just the right size. It is not so large that cats can come in, and not so small that he 

 cannot get in himself. Could we draw a doorway just the right size for our house? He 

 then uses his bill as a pick and begins to chip away the wood, to make a hole. He enjoys 

 the work in the same way that we do when we build a house. Fig. 3. 



Lesson III. Comparisons. — Use stuffed specimens, pictures of other kinds of Wood- 

 peckers, and e.xchange material. Have the class discover points in which all Wood- 

 peckers are alike. How may we distinguish them? The Downy and the Hairy Wood- 

 peckers may often be attracted near schoolhouses and homes by hanging pieces of beef 

 fat in the trees. Fig. 4. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CORRELATIONS 



Lesson IV. Language. — Let the class suppose that they are Flickers, and tell about 

 themselves. Ask each pupil to write a story on what one Woodpecker did as he watched 

 it for fifteen minutes. In schools where children dramatize, it might be profitable and 

 interesting to write a drama with the Flicker, an apple tree, and a fat baby beetle 

 as characters. 



The Flicker affords an unusual opportunity for word study. Mr. Colburn gave 36 

 common names of this species in the Audubon Magazine for June, 1887. The Country 

 Life in America, July, 1913, says that there are 126 names. These names are nicknames, 

 each of which gives a hint of some characteristic of the bird. Have the class determine 

 which indicates the color, song, flight, and habits of the bird: Yellow-hammer, Pique- 

 bois Jaune, Yellow-shafted Woodpecker, Yellow-winged Woodpecker, Crescent-bird, 

 Clape, Cave-due, Fiddler, Hittock, Hick-wall, Piute or Perrit, Wake-up, Yaffle, Yarrup, 

 Yucker, Tapping-bird, High-hold, High-holder, and the High-hole. 



The Woodpeckers have not attained the literary rank of the Bluebird, the Oriole, 

 and some others. Walt Whitman speaks of "The High-hole flashing his golden wings." 



Lesson V. Drawing. — Fill in outline drawings with colored pencils or water-colors. 

 These outlines may be made on a hectograph. It is worth while to make diflferent view^, as 

 a front view of the Flicker to show polka-dots and locket; side view, to show the mous- 

 tache of Father Flicker or its absence in Madame Flicker, and the golden wing shafts; 

 back view in flight, to show the white field mark, barred color scheme on the back, and 

 the red patch on the back of the head. Simple drawings, to illustrate the story of the 

 Flicker's activities, bring out skill and interest. Such a series of sketches might include 

 the bird flying up from the ground; position on the trunk; head bent back for hammering; 

 outline of a doorway; the completed mansion; the eggs in the nest; bringing food; the 

 babies, with mouths wide-opened to receive the food, and the young on a limb receiving 

 a lesson in flying. The food for the young, it should be explained, is invisible as it is 

 partly digested in the alimentary canal. The process of feeding is peculiar since the 

 food is literally pumped into the mouth of the young. 



Lesson VI. Manual Training. — The construction of a home for the Flicker. Hollow 

 out a small block of wood leaving the bark on the outside. The opening from the out- 

 side should have a diameter of two and a half inches. Modeling the home and eggs in 

 clay is fascinating work for the younger grades. The Flicker does not build a nest. The 

 eggs rest upon small chips, which probably fall to the bottom of the hole during the 

 construction of the house. 



Lesson VII. Music. — There are not many opportunities to correlate the study of 

 the Flicker with music. The cry is rather difficult to imitate. The drumming is worthy 

 of imitation in the elementary grades. Try to differentiate between the Flicker's drum- 

 ming as a pastime and its picking for food. The noisiness of the Flicker may be con- 

 trasted with the music of some of our more accomplished feathered singers. 



