1730 THE PIC A RI AN BIRDS 



are red instead of yellow. In certain districts in North America where the golden- 

 winged woodpecker ( C. auratus] is defined as being chiefly a bird of the Eastern 

 States, and the red-winged species ( C. mexicanus) , as a bird of the more Western 

 States, there occurs a connecting species (C. ayresi) with an intermediate habitat 

 between the two. It is not yet satisfactorily determined whether this curious form 

 has been produced by the interbreeding of the golden and red-winged species, but 

 the intermediate bird certainly partakes of the characteristics of both of them. The 

 bills in these woodpeckers are weaker and rather more curved than in ordinary 

 woodpeckers. The birds themselves are less decidedly frequenters of trees, being 

 more ground feeders than the rest of the family. They excavate, however, their 

 own nest hole like the majority of woodpeckers, and they also perch horizontally on 

 branches like ordinary Passerine birds, instead of flying to a tree trunk and climbing 

 continually, after the manner of the other members of the family. 



This species (C. auratus}, familiarly known in the States as the 



flicker, is a bird about eleven inches in length, of a drab-brown color 

 Winged 



Wood- above, barred with black, the rump being white; the head smoky gray, 

 pecker followed by a scarlet nape band; while the sides of the face and throat 

 are drab with a black moustache band, and a crescentic patch of black 

 on the chest, the remainder of the under surface being white, spotted with black, 

 and all the shafts of the quills and tail feathers golden yellow. A summer visitor 

 to the sub-arctic parts of North America, and breeding even in the high north, in 

 the Middle and Southern States this woodpecker is a permanent resident. It feeds 

 largely on ants, and wanders over the open country in search of these insects, being 

 far less of a forest-haunting species than most of its relations. An interesting ac- 

 count of the feeding of the young birds by the parents is given by Mr. Brew r ster, 

 who says that when first he saw the nestlings there were five of them , about as large 

 as plucked house sparrows, and perfectly naked. Their eyes were tightly closed, 

 and they appeared to be less than a week old. They were writhing and shivering 

 pitifully, the air being cool and damp at the time. He watched the nest for about 

 an hour, but saw nothing of the parent birds, and as a cold rainstorm began soon 

 after, and lasted through the following night, he concluded that the young flickers 

 would soon be dead. On the first of July, however, he found them all alive and 

 vigorous; and then by dint of patience and careful observation he discovered the 

 method by which the young were fed. After a little time the male bird became 

 more accustomed to his presence, and visited the nest when he was not more than 

 fifteen feet away from it. 



This woodpecker (C. agricola) is a remarkable bird, with a weaker 

 bill than usually found in the family, while it has also longer legs and a 

 pecker ^ ess stiffened tail than is customary with woodpeckers, these modified 

 characteristics being probably brought about by the peculiar habits of 

 the bird, which, as its name implies, is an inhabitant of the pampas of Argentina. 

 In size it is a somewhat large species, measuring twelve and one-half inches, and 

 has golden shafts to the wing quills, but black ones to the tail feathers, which are 

 entirely black. The quill lining is golden buff, the crown of the head is black, 

 while the sides of the face and neck as well as the fore neck are golden yellow, in- 



