WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



live in burrows in the earth, so that it is evident 

 that when flickers are seen upon the ground they 

 are usually in search of ants. '* The same ornithol- 

 ogist points out that on the whole this is beneficial 

 to mankind, because many sorts of ants are harm- 

 ful to cultivated trees and plants, on account of 

 their attending and preserving the injurious plant, 

 root, and bark-lice. Some ants, especially in warm 

 climates, do much harm in other ways, so that any- 

 thing which checks their increase deserves our 

 thanks. 



When engaged in these unwoodpecker-like re- 

 searches upon the ground the flicker is very silent 

 and watchful, as if he felt it both infra dignita- 

 tem and perilous. He does not walk about, but 

 hops along with a bounding, elastic gait, head up 

 and eyes supernaturally vigilant. The greenish 

 hue of his back would make him almost imper- 

 ceptible in the grass did not the red half-moon be- 

 hind his ears betray him. He ought to slip a 

 hickory -nut shuck over his head when he goes 

 abroad. 



In August, particularly, young and old together 

 go wandering in a loose company over meadows, 

 turning over the dried droppings of cattle — two 

 sometimes helping each other — in search of black 



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