THE FLICKER. 75 



Abnormal Coloration. Albinism is said to be verj' rare 

 among the Picidcr. Ruthven Deane described the only exam- 

 ple that had come under his notice — D. A^. O. C, Vol. V., p. 

 2() — a beautiful specimen, taken near Providence, R. I., in '79, 

 the red nuchal crescent and gold-shafts of the wings and tail 

 being the only normal colors remaining, the rest of the plum- 

 age creamy-white. Chas. K. Worthen describes a similar ex- 

 ample in the Osprcy, Vol. I., p. 24, said to have been taken in 

 Lee county, Iowa. It is also cream-white, with the exception 

 of a pink nuchal crescent, and the under parts of the wings a 

 rich yellow. A specimen in the young of the j-ear plumage, 

 taken in New Jersey and now in the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, closely approaches the albinistic phase, hav- 

 ing a general washed-out appearance. One of my Georgia 

 skins, an old male in rich autumnal dress, has a single white 

 feather near the center of the occiput. 



Melanism, a yet rarer condition of plumage, is represented 

 by a single case cited by Mr. Deane in the above periodical. 

 Records of the last are extremely unreliable unless the speci- 

 mens are in hand. In proof of this, witness Mr. J. N. Baskett's 

 experience : His little boy called his attention to a bird on the 

 lawn ; it seemed to the eye to be perfectl}' black, but under the 

 opera glass faint markings characteristic of the Flicker, ap- 

 peared; the bird's pose, shape and movements already estab- 

 lished its identity. As it was Sunday and in town, this 

 apparently remarkable melanistic form could not be shot, and 

 the next day it could not be found. A small boy, however, 

 appeared on the following day with the identical bird, it hav- 

 ing been shot by his father while it was engaged in digging 

 holes in the corner of his house. On closer examination its 

 plumage proved grimy and greasy with soot with which it had 

 doubtless came in contact while occupying a used chimney 

 as a resting place. This specimen came from the hands of the 

 taxidermist but slightly darker than normal, he having ex- 

 ceeded his instructions and given it a thorough cleansing. 



