Flicker 199 



plus than to travel to a land of plenty when 

 winter comes. Heretofore this red-headed 

 cousin has been reckoned a migratory member 

 of the home-loving woodpecker clan, but only 

 where he could not find plenty of beechnuts to 

 keep him through the winter. 



FLICKER 



Called also: High-hole; Clape; Golden-winged 

 Woodpecker; Yellow-hammer; Yucker 



Why should the flicker discard family tradi- 

 tions and wear clothes so different from those 

 of his relations? His upper parts are dusty 

 brown, narrowly barred with black, and the 

 large white patch on his lower back, so con- 

 spicuous as he flies from you, is one of the best 

 marks of identification on his big handsome 

 body. His head is gray with a black streak 

 below the eye, and a scarlet band across the 

 nape of the neck, while the upper side of the 

 wing feathers is black relieved by golden shafts. 

 Underneath, the wings are a lovely golden yel- 

 low, seen only when the bird flies toward you. 

 His breast, which is a pale, pinkish brown, is 

 divided from the throat by a black crescent, 

 smaller than the meadowlark's, and below this 

 half-moon of jet there are many black spots. 



