THK FLICKICR. n 



teristics, any one of which would well deserve the adoption of 

 a concise descriptive name in a species less excentric, no word 

 in the English language would prove more apt than the one it 

 now possesses — the name given it by the earh' settlers. 



While the compilation of a dictionary of synonyms was not 

 originally contemplated, the vulgar appellations or aliases col- 

 lected from various sources number 124, all of which have 

 been actually in use, either generally or locally. The probable 

 derivation and meaning, as well as other notes, have been 

 added, when it appeared necessary. Although apparently .so 

 varied in character, there is scarcely a name that cannot be 

 placed in one of the three divisions : Descriptive, Onomato- 

 poetic, Misnomers. 



Antbird. Minnesota. vSo called from its well known taste 

 for ants {Hymenoptcra) , of which it devours immense quanti- 

 ties. 



Big Sapsucker. Northern States. Misnomer. 



Carpintero. Spani.sh. Obsolete in the United States. Car- 

 penter — the name given to the whole Woodpecker family in 

 Spani.sh America. 



Cave-due* Maine. Of French Canadian origin. Appa- 

 rently confounded with the hole-nesting .species of horned or 

 eared Owls and continued through ignorance of the original. 

 Along the St. Lawrence river the natives call the horn-owl 

 " cave-due " or " horn-coot " — Russell Gray. 



Clapz^ Claype* Western New York, Western end of Long 

 Island. Ernest Ingersoll quotes Dr. DeKay as follows : 

 "Said to have been some provincial word introduced by the 

 early English colonists." In this instance it is doubtless mis- 

 applied, as our New York observers unite in the assertion that 

 it is an imitation of the loud spring call note. 



Common Flicker. Sometimes used in the East, but more 

 frequentl}' in some sections of the West, where both aiirafiis 

 and cafe r occur. 



Cotton-rump. Pennsylvania. From the conspicuous white 

 patch of feathers on the rump. ( A similar name — Cotton- 

 tail — has been applied to C. cafer in California according to 

 H. R. Taylor). 



Crescent-bird. West. From the prominent black crescent 

 on the breast, or the .scarlet occipital crescent, or both. 



