152 



THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



observed his desultory ascent up some dead and lofty pine, tapping 

 at intervals, and dodging from side to side, as he ascended in a spiral 

 line; at length, having gained the towering summit, while basking 

 in the mild sunbeams, he surveys the extensive landscape, and almost 

 with the same reverberating sound as his blows, at intervals he utters 

 a loud and solitary 'cur'rA in a tone as solemn as the tolling of the 

 Campanero. He thus hearkens, as it were, to the shrill echoes of 

 his own voice, and for an hour at a time seems alone employed in 

 contemplating, in cherished solitude and security, the beauties and 

 blessings of the rising day." 



Perhaps because it is not so " smart" a bird ; pos- 

 sibly because it has a good deal more common sense 

 than other woodpeckers ; but whether the one way 

 or the other, the Golden-winged Flicker, or High- 

 hole, means to hold his own in the land of his fathers, 



Flicker. 



mar it as much as civilization may. If there are no 

 trees it will take to the fences, and if needs be, it can 

 run over the ground a good deal faster than any boy 

 can unless he has been some time in training. But 



