HARBINGERS OF SPRING. 



17 



winds, soon sweep northward through field and forest 

 in an unbroken wave to the very pole itself. 



In the close wake of the larger water fowl come 

 the snipe and the woodcock, Philohda minor (Gmel.) 

 the latter arriving so early that a full set of its eggs 

 was once found by the writer on the 28th of March. 



. 2 The Flicker or Yellow-hammer. (After Real.) 



Among the land birds two of the first to arrive are 

 the flicker, or yellow-hammer, Colaptes auratus (Linn.), 

 and the red-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius phocmceus 

 (Linn.); and the prolonged "wick-a-wick-a-wick" of 

 the former and the clear, ringing "puck-e-e-eet" of 

 2 



