THE FLICKER. 



GREAT variety of names 

 does this bird possess. It 

 is commonly known as the 

 Golden Winged Wood- 

 pecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Yellow 

 Hammer, and less often as High-hole 

 or High-holer, Wake-up, etc. In suit- 

 able localities throughout the United 

 States and the southern parts of Can- 

 ada, the Flicker is a very common 

 bird, and few species are more gener- 

 ally known. " It is one of the most 

 sociable of our Woodpeckers, and is 

 apparently always on good terms with 

 its neighbors. It usually arrives in 

 April, occasionally even in March, the 

 males preceding the females a few 

 days, and as soon as the latter appear 

 one can hear their voices in all direc- 

 tions." 



The Flicker is an ardent wooer. It 

 is an exceedingly interesting and 

 amusing sight to see a couple of males 

 paying their addresses to a coy and 

 coquettish female ; the apparent shy- 

 ness of the suitors as they sidle up to 

 her and as quickly retreat again, the 

 shy glances given as one peeps from 

 behind a limb watching the other — 

 playing bo-peep — seem very human, 

 and "I have seen," says an observer, 

 "few more amusing performances than 

 the courtship of a pair of these birds." 

 The defeated suitor takes his rejection 

 quite philosophically, and retreats in a 

 dignified manner, probably to make 

 other trials elsewhere. Few birds 

 deserve our good will more than the 

 Flicker. He is exceedingly useful, 

 destroying multitudes of grubs, larvae, 

 and worms. He loves berries and 

 fruit but the damage he does to culti- 

 vated fruit is very trifling. 



The Flicker begins to build its nest 

 about two weeks after the bird arrives 

 from the south. It prefers open coun- 

 try, interspersed with groves and orch- 

 ards, to nest in. Any old stump, or 

 partly decayed limb of a tree, along 



the banks of a creek, beside a country, 

 road, or in an old orchard, will answer 

 the purpose. Soft wood trees seem to 

 be preferred, however. In the prairie 

 states it occasionally selects strange 

 nesting sites. It has been known to 

 chisel through the weather boarding of 

 a dwelling house, barns,and other build- 

 ings, and to nest in the hollow space 

 between this and the cross beams ; its 

 nests have also been found in gate 

 posts, in church towers, and in burrows 

 of Kingfishers and bank swallows, in 

 perpendicular banks of streams. One 

 of the most peculiar sites of his selec- 

 tion is described by William A. Bry- 

 ant as follows: "On a small hill, a 

 quarter of a mile distant from any 

 home, stood a hay stack wdiich had 

 been placed there two years previously. 

 The owner, during the winter of 

 1889-90, had cut the stack through the 

 middle and hauled away one portion, 

 leaving the other standing, with the 

 end smoothly trimmed. The following 

 spring I noticed a pair of flickers about 

 the stack showing signs of wanting to 

 make it a fixed habitation. One morn- 

 ing a few days later I was amused at 

 the efforts of one of the pair. It was 

 clinging to the perpendicular end of 

 the stack and throwing out clipped 

 hay at a rate to defy competition. 

 This work continued for a week, and 

 in that time the pair had excavated a 

 cavity twenty inches in depth. They 

 remained in the vicinity until autumn. 

 During the winter the remainder of 

 the stack was removed. They re- 

 turned the following spring, and, after 

 a brief sojourn, departed for parts un- 

 known." 



From five to nine eggs are generally 

 laid. They are glossy white in color, 

 and when fresh appear as if enameled. 



The young are able to leave the 

 nest in about sixteen days ; they crawl 

 about on the limbs of the tree for a 

 couple of days before they venture to 

 fly, and return to the nest at night. 



