TIIK FLICKER. G7 



Red Squirrels {Sciun/s /nidso?iicus) and subspecies, Flj'ing 

 Squirrel {Ptcromys voliicella). Weasel (Mustela vulgaris). 

 Mice of .various species, Red-headed Woodpecker { Mclancrpcs 

 erythroccphalus). Crows {Corviis aincricanus), (C. ossifragus), 

 Jays, {^Cyanocitta cristata) ; and probably a few others. Mr. 

 C. L,. Rawson. who has had a wide experience in collectinjy, 

 says that he has never seen snakes in holes in trees, a la 

 school books, but mice, Red and Flying Squirrels often. 



Mr. A. O. Garrett, Fort Scott, Kans. , writes that the 

 Flicker appears to be subject to internal parasites to an un- 

 usual degree. In skinning a number he found wire worms in 

 the stomachs of fifteen or twent}*; also parasites where noticed 

 on the occipital bone in several cases. 



Undoubtedl}' quite a number succumb to extremely cold 

 weather. Prof. Jones records an instance observed in Iowa. 

 Mr. J. H. Armiield notes it among the birds that suffered 

 during the extremely cold winter. One found dead in a po.st 

 oak cavit}', Feb. 22, '90, at Greensboro, N. C. Harry Gordon 

 White made note of one found dead with its feet frozen to a 

 sheet of ice on the floor of a cavity, many ^-ears ago. 



Man is its greatest enemy. Protection is needed par- 

 ticularly in the South, where most of the surviving adults, 

 plus their progeny, reside for at lea.st one-third of the year. 

 Dr. M. T. Cleckley, writing from Augusta, Ga., states it is 

 being gradually exterminated by the hunters. Mr. Gustave 

 Kohn sa3's that it is shot during the winter season by most 

 hunters, as it is considered as good eating as Doves. He 

 has seen them in bunches for sale on the streets and in the 

 markets of New Orleans, La. This practice, although com- 

 mon enough in the times of Wilson and Audubon, has long 

 ago ceased in the older Northern States. Mr. Fritz V. Ray- 

 mond, referring to the town of Ludlow, Ky. , writes that it is 

 difficult to study birds whose nests are easily- found, as a class 

 of destructive boys scour the country for miles aroiuid and kill 

 and plunder for the very love of it, stringing eggs like beads 

 and taking the 3-oung birds. Plainly' the most intelligent 

 ])eople of America are often too thoughtless and indifferent to 

 instruct their children by precept and example in the common 

 laws and economy of nature. As to the ignorant, next to en- 

 lightenment — with which I do not qualify my remarks when 



