Two JEALOUS FLICKERS. 223 



I seriously doubt. 1 once saw two of these birds 

 chasing one another up and down the forks of 

 an elm and uttering meanwhile the note last 

 mentioned. Going closer I found that it was not 

 a love making scene but a quarrel that of two 

 males over one of the opposite sex. They would 

 rest within a few inches of one another and 

 shake their heads in a peculiar jerking manner, 

 uttering at the same time their dare "a-wick 

 a -wick a- wick," sometimes low, almost in a 

 whisper, again loud and querulous. The female 

 meanwhile apparently took no notice of them. 

 She would fly thirty to fifty feet away, some- 

 times to the ground, and hop along in search of 

 food. They would immediately follow, and 

 alighting on opposite sides of a shrub or small 

 branch of tree near her, would stick their heads 

 around within two or three inches of one an- 

 other and bob and bow up and down and from 

 side to side in a queer laugh provoking manner. 

 When they flew the one which first alighted al- 

 ways uttered very loudly the challenge "a-wick 

 a-wick a-wick. ' ' Thus is there, especially in 

 the mating season, contention among the birds, 

 the weaker sex being there also unintentionally 

 responsible for many of the turmoils of their 

 daily life. 



Yesterday my eyes were delighted and my 

 soul made glad by seeing a humming bird poise 

 before the small purplish blossoms of the fig- 



