INCUBATION. 



Few birds so timid and defenceless as the Flicker, sit so 

 closel}' and presistently. While occasionally it may be seen to 

 fly from its nest at a near approach, it is usually very hard to 

 drive out ; shouting and pounding upon. the base of the tree 

 having little effect, and often it is necessary to prod the bird 

 with a stick or reach in and pull her out by the beak. She is 

 gentle and harmless, never offering to claw, bite or strike, al- 

 though capable of inflicting a painful wound if disposed to use 

 her strong beak. When caught she will struggle violently for 

 a moment or utter a long wailing, despairing shriek which will 

 be answered by the mate if within hearing distance. In one 

 instance described by Mr. Jacobs the female returned and en- 

 tered the partly destroyed cavity, emerging only to re-enter 

 and re-examine her home the second and third time ; and at 

 another time when the female was flushed and set collected 

 after dark, she came quite near and alighted on his back acting 

 as if verj' much dazed or blinded. Prof. Jones has found it 

 occasionally making fierce dashes at the intruder and also re- 

 lates an incident of his first experience with it as a close sitter, 

 taking it for an Owl and dropping three large stones upon it 

 in the vain hope of causing it to vacate. When the nest was 

 opened she was found pinned dow^n by the stones but so care- 

 fully protecting the eggs that not one was broken, and happily 

 she seemed unharmed also. For a bird habitually nesting in 

 dark situations, it seems strange that it exhibits such a dislike 

 and inaptitude for movement after the sun has set, acting 

 stupidly and deserting the nest for good if disturbed at such a 

 time. Incubation may commence soon after the first egg is 

 deposited, or in accordance with the great majority of birds, 

 after the set is completed. More than 90 per cent, of the sets 

 of which I have data .show the latter condition, and curiously 

 enough, all but two instances (Xouisiana and Kentucky) of 

 irregularly incubated eggs occur in the New England and 



