THAYER ] HOURS WITH THE FLICKERS 22 - 



On the following day I began to watch the nest, to learn all I 

 could of flicker life. 



June 26, from 3.40 to 5 p. 11. — I sat down about twenty feet 

 from the nest. After twenty minutes watching, the female 

 came to the tree (4 p. m.) and the male flew out and away. He 

 had brooded the young during the female's absence. The 

 female was very much disturbed at my presence, and circled 

 around me from tree to tree, giving her cry of alarm many times. 

 After an hour and thirteen minutes, I left the orchard, fearing 

 the young might suffer. The female had remained nearby all 

 the time, but the male I did not see after he flew out and away 

 when the female arrived. 



June 27, 3.40 to 5.15 p. m. — I was wiser than on the previous 

 day. and took my position fifty feet away from the nest, and at 

 one side, so that I could not see the opening, but could watch the 

 old birds. At 4 o'clock the male bird came to a tree one hundred 

 feet away from the nest and the same distance from me, and sat 

 upon the topmost dead twig. His mouth was open; it was a 

 warm afternoon. He remained perfectly silent, but evidently 

 he was watching. Soon (4.16) he came to the tree, just outside 

 the nest, gave several little calls, at which the female came out 

 of the nest and flew away. The male then went to a tree forty 

 feet away, where he remained on guard. One would not think 

 the flickers' striking colors at all protective, and yet I might have 

 looked at the tree many times and not have seen him. He 

 looked like a part of the gnarled branch upon which he sat 

 perfectly flat lengthwise of the limb. 



Fifteen minutes later (4.31) the male flew to the nest opening, 

 clung to it for a moment watching me, then went inside. For 

 several minutes he kept looking out, but finally deciding that all 

 was well, went down again, and brooded the young thirty-three 

 minutes or until the arrival of the female at a nearby tree (5.04). 

 She made no sound, so I wondered how the male knew that she 

 had returned. The female went directly into the nest (5.06), 

 after having been away fifty minutes. The male had come with- 

 out food so far as I could see, and now to my surprise, the female 

 brought none. What did it mean 5 I immediately went to my 

 books, but found nothing of the flickers' feeding habits. I had 

 yet to learn that the young were fed by regurgitation. 



June 28, 3.40 to 5.14 p. m. — After watching the nest for a half- 



