BIRDS OF NEW YORK l6l 



heard to utter notes resembling " wake up, wake up, wake up," or " yarrup, 

 yarrup, yarrup," or " yucker, yucker, yucker," in subdued tones. In the 

 fall while visiting black cherry trees, poke weed and pepperidge to feed 

 on the berries, they are generally to be found in small companies and often 

 indulge in odd gesticulations with tails spread, bowing and bobbing about 

 before each other and giving voice to the yarrup or flicker notes which 

 Chapman compared to " the quick swish of a willow wand." It may be 

 imitated by whistling sharply the syllables " kee-yer " two or three times 

 repeated. When the nicker flies up from the ground and alights on a stub 

 or fence post, he frequently bobs and bows to an imaginary audience and 

 immediately thereafter jerks his head high upward giving voice to a sharp 

 note like the syllable " clape." In the springtime one of the most familiar 

 sounds of the field and grove is the long-drawn, rolling call which is 

 unquestionably the mating song of the Flicker. It may be heard for more 

 than half a mile and has been variously syllabized, usually written 

 as " cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh." Others have writ- 

 ten it "wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick-wick"; and 

 others, " yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch-yuch. 1 " 

 The young imitate the parents in the matter of vociferous habits, a nestful 

 of young flickers keeping up a continual jangling, jarring note almost 

 throughout the whole day. The flicker, like other woodpeckers, is also 

 a good drummer, especially in the springtime. He selects some dry limb 

 or thin conductor pipe or old stove pipe and mounting thereon at least 

 fifty times a day batters away with his quick-rolling tattoo to the utter 

 despair of his nearest neighbors. When a Flicker is suddenly surprised, 

 he usually utters a low chuckling note and then flies away; and sometimes 

 when flying about among the trees produces a whining or winnowing note, 

 suggesting the sound of pigeons' wings about the dovecote. I imagine 

 that this habit as well, perhaps, as the slighter, more pigeonlike appear- 

 ance of. its head and neck, have given him the name of pigeon woodpecker. 

 The Flicker has a tendency to be gregarious, not only during the fruit season 

 but all through the summer. Small, scattered companies are frequently 



