Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 



According to the books we have before us, a warbler; but 

 who, to look at his speckled throat and breast, would ever take 

 him for anything but a diminutive thrush ; or, studying him from 

 some distance through the opera-glasses as he runs in and out of 

 the little waves along the brook or river shore, would not name 

 him a baby sandpiper ? The rather unsteady motion of his legs, 

 balancing of the tail, and sudden jerking of the head suggest an 

 aquatic bird rather than a bird of the woods. But to really know 

 either man or beast, you must follow him to his home, and if you 

 have pluck enough to brave the swamp and the almost impene- 

 trable tangle of undergrowth where the water thrush chooses to 

 nest, there " In the swamp in secluded recesses, a shy and hidden 

 bird is warbling a song; " and this warbled song that Walt Whit- 

 man so adored gives you your first clue to the proper classification 

 of the bird. It has nothing in common with the serene, hymn-like 

 voices of the true thrushes ; the bird has no flute-like notes, but 

 an emphatic smacking or chucking kind of warble. For a few 

 days only is this song heard about the gardens and roadsides of 

 our country places. Like the Louisiana water thrush, this bird 

 never ventures near the homes of men after the spring and autumn 

 migrations, but, on the contrary, goes as far away from them as 

 possible, preferably to some mountain region, beside a cool and 

 dashing brook, where a party of adventurous young climbers 

 from a summer hotel or the lonely trout fisherman may startle it 

 from its mossy nest on the ground. 



Flicker 



(Colaptes auratus) Woodpecker family 



Called also: GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER; CLAPE ; 

 PIGEON WOODPECKER ; YELLOWHAMMER ; HIGH- 

 HOLE OR HIGH-HOLDER ; YARUP ; WAKE-UP ; 

 YELLOW-SHAFTED WOODPECKER 



Length — 12 to 13 inches. About one-fourth as large again as the 

 robin. 



Male and Female — Head and neck bluish gray, with a red crescent 

 across back of neck and a black crescent on breast. Male 

 has black cheek-patches, that are wanting in female. Golden 

 brown shading into brownish-gray, and barred with black 

 above. Underneath whitish, tinged with light chocolate 



130 



