Siii-:rmax — Sic.x (»i- Xoriiii-.rx Fi.tcki:r. lol 



earh- hour, as many as four arriving witliin seventeen minutes, 

 while at other times nearly an hour may intervene between two 

 visits. When the )oung were eighteen days old during a 

 watch of four and one-half hours twenty-five meals were given 

 to five nestlings that wore distinguishing marks. Three of 

 these are positivelv known to have received five meals apiece, 

 and two received four apiece, if the two undetermined feed- 

 ings went to the latter pair, then each one was fed at the rate 

 of one meal every fifty-four minutes. On the following day a 

 count was made of meals given during four hours, which 

 numbered twenty-two. At this age the young Flickers every 

 hourjpartake of food to the amount of one-sixteenth of their 

 own weight, or in one day consume their full weight of food, 

 yet the table of growth shows that it does not add to their 

 weight to any noticeable extent. 



In delivering the food the parents give Scripture measure, 

 yet the young are never too full for utterance. With the food 

 literally hanging over the edges of their bills they clamor for 

 more until the parent leaves the hole. From this exposed food 

 there comes a strong odor that fills the box and penetrates to 

 the nostrils of the observer for three or four minutes after the 

 feeding is over. The odor is not a disagreeable one, but 

 strongly reminds us of that of a slightly over-ripe orange. It 

 remains for the entomologist to tell us if this is the aroma of 

 emmet jam. The filled up fledgeling slowly slips down to the 

 bottom of the nest, there to sleep for a half hour or more ; but 

 before tranquility is restored to the nest there is a violent shak- 

 ing of wings. 



The subject of the cleaning of the nest would not be dis- 

 cussed here at length if it had not long been somewhat of a 

 mystery to many, and if Flickers had not often been called very 

 untid\- hf)u^e-kecDers. The fact is thev are verv solicitous to 

 keep a cleanl}- nest. Like many other altrical birds the 

 Flicker eats the excrements for several days, generally for nine 

 or ten days, then it begins to carry them out after feeding, of- 

 ten going out three times with the dejecta before settling down 



