OF NEW ENGLAND. 313 



The nest of the " Flicker" may be found in maples, oaks, 

 apple-trees, and occasionally pines or birches, but more often 

 in some collection of trees than in an exposed place. In Mas- 

 sachusetts, it is finished about the middle of May, or earlier. 

 The eggs, like those of all woodpeckers, have a smooth, white, 

 unspotted 9 shell, and are often elliptical. They average about 

 1-15 X '90 of an inch. 



(c). As is indicated by the great number of nick-names be- 

 stowed upon them, the Golden-winged Woodpeckers are com- 

 mon and well-known throughout a large tract of country. In 

 fact, they may be found in summer from the Gulf of Mexico 

 to Hudson's Bay, and in many places, inclusive of Massachu- 

 setts, they may be found throughout the year. Near Boston, 

 however, they are rather rare in winter. They usually become 

 common between the middle of March and the first of April, 

 and continue so until the approach of winter. Though social, 

 and in autumn somewhat gregarious, they usually arrive in. pairs, 

 who return every year to their former haunts, but who gen- 

 erally build a fresh nest. 'JThis latter work they begin in April. 

 Having chosen a suitable tree, by the roadside, in the orchard, 

 or the woods, they proceed to excavate, the male and female 

 laboring alternately. Observe one at work. Clinging to the 

 trunk with his feet, but supporting himself by his rigid tail, he 

 draws back his muscular head, delivers a vigorous stroke, and 

 cuts a chip from the wood, which is generally dropped on the 

 ground just outside. The hole (about three inches wide) is 

 gradually deepened at the rate of between one-half and a whole 

 inch each day, so that he can cling to the lower edge of the 

 entrance while working. Finally he is lost to sight, and his 

 operations can no longer be watched, for usually, if closely ap- 

 proached, he ceases his labors and flies awa}^. Indeed, he is 

 so suspicious as sometimes to be startled by the sdund of dis- 

 tant foot-steps, and even to desert an unfinished nest if discov- 

 ered. Moreover, he is fastidious, and often, displeased with 



There are frequently apparent markings, which can easily, however, be 

 washed off. 



