THE FLICKER 
Tue Flicker is most beloved in March, when his hearty shout 
is one of the characteristic sounds of the first warm days of early 
spring. The same week which brings the Bluebird and the Black- 
bird hears the cheerful song of the Song Sparrow and the loud 
call of the Flicker. 
Though a woodpecker, the Flicker has departed somewhat from 
the habits of its relatives, spending considerable time on the ground, 
and depending largely for its food on berries and ants. It is often 
startled from lawns and hillsides, where it has been thrusting its 
long tongue into colonies of black ants, seizing them on the moist, 
brushy tip. When so engaged, the bird may sometimes be closely 
approached, and a sight of its plumage is then a revelation to one 
who has seen from a distance only its dark brown body and white 
rump. The ashy gray nape sets off a bright red patch; there is 
a handsome black crescent across the breast, and the male wears 
black mustaches. The breast is handsomely spotted, and the quills 
and undersides of the wing and tail feathers are golden yellow. 
Unless one can steal up close to a bird, few of these marks show; 
but the Flicker may always be distinguished by his size (he is 
the largest of our common birds except the Crow), by the white 
rump, and the gleam of yellow which has given him the name 
Golden-winged Woodpecker. The flight, too, like that of all the 
woodpeckers, is characteristic; the wing strokes are slow, and between 
them the bird drops a little, so that its progress is in waves instead 
of in a straight line. 
