FLINT 



2209 



FLOOD 



its queer, loud note, which sounds a little like 

 that word. It nests in holes of trees, and from 

 the position of its nest it is also called high- 

 hole or high- 

 holder. 



This bird is 

 sometimes a foot 

 long, with a long, 

 slender and 1 

 smooth curved 

 bill ; its prevail- 

 ing color is olive- 

 brown, with black 

 markings. The 

 head and neck 

 are ash colored, 

 the head showing 

 a bright scarlet 

 crescent. The 

 under parts are THE FLICKER 



brown, fading into yellow below the legs, and 

 marked with round, black spots. Across the 

 breast and throat is a broad black bar. In 

 addition to all this, the under parts of the tail 

 and wings are a rich golden yellow, and the 

 rump and tail coverts are pure white, showing 

 plainly when the bird is flying. The flicker 

 feeds on worms, insects and berries; he is the 

 farmer's friend, because he does little damage 

 in comparison with the pests he destroys. He 

 taps for his food, as do all woodpeckers; un- 

 like that family of birds, however, this species 

 also often feeds on the ground, and is some- 

 times mistaken for the meadow lark. 



The flicker nests as far north as Central 

 Alaska and east to the Canadian Atlantic 

 section; it migrates from Canada in early fall, 

 but in parts of the United States it is a perma- 

 nent resident. The migration extends as far 

 south as the Gulf coast. 



FLINT, the mineral used by our forefathers 

 for striking with steel to produce fire. It is a 

 variety of quartz and usually is of a dark 

 bluish-gray color. It is found in rounded 

 lumps, called nodules, in masses of other rock. 

 It is very hard, and when struck against steel 

 produces a spark. It was the spark thus formed 

 that set fire to the powder in the flint-lock 

 musket of Revolutionary times. It is used 

 now in the manufacture of some varieties of 

 glass and in pottery of a high grade. 



FLINT, MICH., locally known as the VE- 

 HICLE CITY, because of its extensive automobile 

 industry. It is situated south and east of the 

 center of the state, in Genesee County, of 

 which it is the county seat, and is fifty miles 

 139 



northeast of Lansing, the state capital, thirty- 

 four miles southeast of Saginaw and seventy- 

 three miles northwest of Detroit. It is on the 

 Flint River, and on the Grand Trunk and the 

 Pere Marquette railroads. An interurban line 

 extends north to Saginaw and Bay City and 

 another runs south to Detroit. The area of 

 the city exceeds twelve square miles. The 

 population in 1910 was 38,550 and in 1916 it 

 was estimated by the Census Bureau to be 

 54,772. About seventy-five per cent of the 

 inhabitants are Americans, and among the 

 foreign-born are people of almost evety nation- 

 ality. 



Flint is the home of the Buick Motor Car 

 Company, and of the .assembling plants of the 

 Dort, Monroe, Chevrolet and Paterson auto- 

 mobile companies. In addition to these auto- 

 mobile plants, the city also contains manufac- 

 tories of motors, carburetors, flour, woolen 

 goods, cigars, paint and varnish, wheels, bicy- 

 cles, iron, brick, tile and lumber products. 

 There are large coal mines in the vicinity. The 

 city is an important grain market. 



Noteworthy buildings are a fine courthouse, 

 a Federal building costing $100,000, city hall, 

 Carnegie Library, banks, churches and two 

 hospitals; one of these, Oak Grove, is a private 

 institution for the treatment of mental dis- 

 orders. There are twelve parks containing 

 altogether 100 acres. In 1854 the Michigan 

 School for the Deaf was established here. 

 There are a number of business colleges and 

 parochial schools, in addition to the public 

 schools. 



The first settlement, called Grand Traverse 

 of the Flint, was made in 1820. It was in- 

 corporated as a village in 1831 and chartered 

 as a city in 1855. The rapid growth of the 

 place since 1869 has been due to the develop- 

 ment of the vehicle industry. E.B.L. 



FLODDEN FIELD, in Northumberland, 

 England, near the Scottish border, is histori- 

 cally interesting as the scene in 1513 of a battle 

 between the Scots, under James IV, and the 

 English under the Earl of Surrey, as the repre- 

 sentative of Henry VIII. An account of this 

 conflict, in which the Scots were courageous but 

 unsuccessful, may be found in Sir Walter 

 Scott's Marmion. The Scottish dead num- 

 bered 10,000, and included the leading men of 

 the kingdom. It is said that every family of 

 importance lost one or more of its members. 



FLOOD, flud, a body of water covering land 

 not usually submerged. It is sometimes bene- 

 ficial, sometimes destructive. The annual flood 



