WOOM'I _>;;;, 



This is a common bird in ir S.udi.-ni Stair-.. It inhabits alike 

 ran* and daohtaoos growth^ bol pn-fi-r^ the latter. It ascends 



a tree in curious, jerky fa>hioii, aci i|utnyin^ each upward move 



by a hoars*- rhfi/t-rhuh. 



412. Colaptes auratua !/.//... I-M.KKH; HU.H ui : <'I.APK; 



YKI.LOW -IIAMMLK; tioi I>KS -WIM.I.H \V >!>.< ki.it. .!/. '. Top of the head 



-.iv, o bright scarlet iiaiitl aenfe* the l>u<-k of tin- nr.-k ; back, wintf- 



d part of Mtiindaries brownish (fray, barred with black; 



rump white ; primaries Mark externally, the iniu-r surface <>!' the- wing and 



,;t ut' tin- t'.atlu-r> yi-lliiw ; II|I|*T tail rovurts liurri-.! ..r htn-uk-l witli 



black ami uhitc; tail Ma<-k alx>vc, yillw ti|.|.-.l with l-hu-k !!. .\\. tlu- ouU-r 



dgoa of tin- t'.:it v ..Ts wliiflitly inurx'inril <>r hurrol with whitr; K'ulr* r,f th 



'.nmt, mul II|>|KT hn-ast viiian-'Hi.-* ; a hrmul Mark tr\\- n citluT n'nlo 



of tin- thnmt innii thr t>:i>- of tin- Mil, ami a broad black m-M-mi UTO the 



brcaitt; rwt of tin- un.U-r part.-* whitr, more or lw tin^cii with vinaccotiH, and 



thirkly *]>ttr<l with l>hifk. .I./. 9 .Similar, but without the black ittrvaka 



on th.-M.h- of the- throat. 1.., 1'Joo; NV., -00; T., 4'0<>: H., MO. 



JBmorifc XXMptienal spvinii-n have a few n-tl fi-athrrs in the throat 

 tripes. A male from Louisiana ha* this murk cntin-ly n--l ami the head gray- 

 ish I.MWII, whih' anothrr sji-i-inifii from Toronto haa half the tail orange-red. 

 These unusual markings are Hupposed to be due to hybridization of our Kl'n-krr 

 with the woti-rn or Ufil-.hatti-il Flii'kcr, wh'u-h rc.sernbles the eastern ppcoies 

 in pattern of ni|nr:iti'>n, but ha.-* the i-rown brownish gray or gray'wh brown, 

 the tlu M-arlet, the throat and breast fray, the uinh-r surface of 



wings and tail dull n--l, ami lacko the red iiuehal band. (See an important 

 paji-r "ii the relationships nf these birds by Dr. J. A. Allen, in the Bull. Am. 



. I-'.-'J, pi>. -.M-44). 



North Amerieu, we.-t to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains 

 iin-1 Alaska; breeds throughout its range, nii'l winters from Illinois and Massa- 

 chusftts southward. 



Washinx'toii, coinnion S. K., rare \V. V. Sin>j Sini;, common S. R., Mt-h. 

 25 to Oct. 80; a few winter. Cambridge, very common S. R., common NV. V. 

 . in tn-i-s, alH.ut ten feet from the ground, frequently in orehard*. 

 ;vc to nine. Mo x '86. 



Th.- habits, notes, and colors of this well-known bird are reflected 

 in the |x>|>u!ar names which have been applied to it throughout it 

 wide rantfe. No K-s> than thirty-six of these aliases have tx>cti re- 

 conled, and many have doubtless escaped the compiler. 



The Flicker is a bird of character. Although a Woodpecker, he 

 is too original to follow in the footsteps of others of his tribe. They 

 do not fn-ijiirnt dm ground, but that is no reason why ho should not 

 humor his own terrestrial pro|H>nsit ies, and we may then-fore fre- 

 -luently flush him from the earth, when, with a low chuckle, he goes 

 Ixiumling off through the air, his white rump showing conspicuously 

 as h# flie*. 



