278 



NB8T8 AND EOO8 OP 



and continued to do BO day after day until the female Flicker had laid seventy-one 

 eggs in seventy-three days.* The average size of the eggs is l.lOx.90, and in a large 

 series a great variation In size and shape are noticeable. While it is hardly within 

 the scope of the present work I herewith quote entire the "General Remarks" in 

 Mr. F. E. L. Deal's "Food of Woodpeckers/'t which certainly proves their great 

 value to the agriculturalist. He says: "With the possible exception of the crow, 

 no birds are subject to more adverse criticism than woodpeckers. Usually no at- 

 tempt la made to discriminate between the numerous species, and little account 



413. I'LICEER (After Audubon) 



i taken of the good they do in destroying injurious insects. The name of 'Sapsucker' 

 baa been applied to two or three of the smaller kinds, in the belief that they subsist 

 to a great extent upon the juices of trees, obtained from the small holes they make 

 In the bark. There can be little doubt that one species, the Yellow-bellied Wood- 



In the last edition* of this work Mr. Phillips' rrrord was credited to the Ornttholo- 

 HUt and Oologlst (Vol. XI. p. 16). Mention of It first appears In The Youngr Oologlst (Vol. 

 I. p. ). and It haa recently been recorded In The Auk, Vol. IV, p. 346. *V 



t Bulletin No. 7. U. 8. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and M m- 

 ir.alogy. Preliminary report on the Food f v. . Beal. Assistant 



ornithologist. The Tongues of Woodpeckers, by F. A. Lucas, Curator, Department Com- 

 parative Anatomy U. 8. National Museum.' Washington: Government Printing Office. 



