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NEST AND EGGS OF THE FLICKER 



member of the Woodpecker family, the Flicker seldom seeks its food in 

 the bark and crevices of trees but feeds mainly upon the ground, taking all 

 manner of insects, of which grasshoppers are decided favorites. In 

 September the birds congregate in flocks to a considerable extent and may 

 be seen feeding in old pastures or hay-fields in large numbers. At 

 this time, though naturally a very lean bird, they become somewhat fat, and 

 in many places people consider them good eating, though to my knowledge 

 they have never been hunted as an article of food. 



The Flicker arrives very early in the spring and stays to the very verge 

 ot winter. I have even known them to spend the winter, apparently, on 

 Long Island, as I have seen them in February in Suffolk County about 

 swampy places that abound in warm springs. The note of the Flicker has 

 a decidedly wild charm that to me was always fascinating. 



