174 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



when he is creeping about on the trunk of a tree, you will 

 see that he uses his tail as a prop. It is doubtful if he 

 could climb about a tree as he does if his tail were pulled 

 out. When you get a chance, examine a tail feather from 

 a woodpecker and I am sure you will be surprized at its 

 stiffness. It was two or three days after the first young 

 bird was out of the nest before I saw any of them fly. 

 For weeks they were most often seen feeding on the 

 ground. Woodpeckers and especially flickers live largely 

 on ants and beetles, and these are easiest to find on the 

 ground. 



Picus' young flickers left the nest hole soon after they 

 were able to fly and, as the summer was dry and food scarce, 

 soon found their way to the barn and cornfield. They eat 

 corn and other grain when short of food, and are espe- 

 cially fond of roasting ears, pecking the end of the ear 

 and tearing the husks to shreds to get at the grain. At 

 husking time farmers often find ears of corn the tips of 

 which have been eaten by flickers. 



Picus and his wife reared two broods of young in their 

 nest hole and then were forcibly driven out by an old gray 

 squirrel. There is no creature more light-hearted or good- 

 natured than the flicker. Picus never missed his drum- 

 ming a single morning because he had lost his home, 

 neither did he quarrel or fight with the squirrel. He 

 merely moved with his wife to the barn, and went on with 

 his normal life. Practically every day they visited the old 

 home tree and early the next spring made a new hole on 

 the other side of the tree. There they were keeping house 

 contentedly when I moved away and there they may still 

 be living for all I know. 



