FAMILY Picidz. 
from the sea-coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky 
Mountains and Alaska. 
The Cuckoo knows the value of silence, the Flicker 
does not. The former runs along rhythmically with his 
song, thus: eT Dial ee cad Neila We et ee ee 
keeps straight on with the clattering tongue of a terma- 
gant, thus: Re eb oie od 0 el wie reo whe a eae 
There is the same effect of a subordinate tone in the 
Flicker’s song as there is in that of the Cuckoo, but how 
absolutely different are the characters of the singers, and 
how perfectly manifest in their songs! The Flicker is a 
noisy, aggressive bird, who publishes his whereabouts 
immediately upon his arrival with a clamor equal to that 
of the hysterical hen announcing the new-laidegg! The 
Cuckoo, on the contrary, is a retiring, quiet character 
who falteringly and soothingly announces his return to 
the ‘‘old stand” with due apology to those who may 
possibly disapprove. The Flicker sounds as if he were 
whistling for the dogs to drive him off, the Cuckoo 
sounds as if he were expostulating against such rude 
treatment. The Flicker’s voice resembles a monotonous 
fortissimo performance on the oboe, the Cuckoee a 
pianissimo response from the ocarina.* 
It is not easy to determine the pitch of the Flicker’s 
voice because of its peculiar timbre ; it certainly is nota 
whistle, yet one can easily imitate it by whistling with 
due regard for the grace note. The song written out 
should appear thus: 
Vivace. cres... =e . dim. ete. 
Quit-quit-guit-quit. étc. 
though I never could promise that the interval E toG 
on the oboe would exactly imitate the voice of the next 
Flicker that we happen to hear; their voices all differ. 
In addition to this song the bird gives us an unmusical, 
rasping 
* A terra-cotta instrument with a hollow, rather sweet tone, not 
unlike that of an organ pipe. 
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