MRS. TOWHEE PROPOSES A PARTY. AT 
which so frightened the little hummer that he dropped 
straight down from the bough he was sitting on, right 
into the lap of a rose that happened to be spreading 
her skirts below. 
“You needn’t be afraid of me,” said the flicker, 
“that is my natural voice. I was going to tell you how 
FLICKER. 
I scared an old lady in the white house yonder. I 
flew up to the gable under the eaves and began ham- 
mering away with all my might on the house-side. You 
know my hard, stout bill is my hammer. It went ‘rap, 
rap,’ just like a man with a hatchet. 
“Out came the old lady, and she looked all around 
the house, thinking to see a burglar, I suppose, and 
