i'liui.i ij.i .\. L. i'riiiceliorn 

 A PAIR OF FLICKERS, OR YELLOW-HAMMERS. IX THEIR HOME (SEE PAGE 690) 



The habits, notes, and colors of this well-known bird are reflected in the popular names 

 which have been applied to it throughout its wide range. No less than 36 of these aliases 

 have been recorded. 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 frequent the ground, 

 but that is no reason why he should not humor his own terrestrial propensities, and we may 

 therefore frequently flush him from the earth, when, with a low chuckle, he goes bounding 

 off through the air, his white rump showing conspicuously as he flies. 



with each other, and with such widely 

 <lift'erent forms as humming-birds, wood- 

 peckers, parrots, and others, we would 

 realize still more clearly the remarkable 

 -amount of variation shown by birds. This 

 great difference in form is accompanied 

 by a corresponding variation in' habit, 

 making possible, as before remarked, the 

 wide distribution of birds, which, to- 

 gether with their size and abundance, 

 renders them of incalculable importance 

 to man. Their economic value, however, 

 may be more properly spoken of under — 



THE RKLATIOX OF lURDS TO MAX 



The relation of birds to man is three- 

 fold — the scientific, the economic, and 

 the esthetic. Xo animals form more 

 profitable subjects for the scientist than 

 birds. The embryologist. the moipliolo- 

 gist and the systematist, the philoso])lnc 

 naturalist, and the psychologist all ui.iy 

 find in them exhaustless material tor 

 study. It is not my purpose, however, 

 to speak here of the science of ornithol- 

 ogy. Let us learn something of the bird 

 in its haunts before taking it to the labo- 



ratory. The living bird cannot fail to 

 attract us ; the dead bird — voiceless, mo- 

 tionless — we will leave for future dis- 

 section. 



The economic value of birds to man 

 lies in the service they render in prevent- 

 ing the undue increase of insects, in de- 

 vouring small rodents, in destroying the 

 seeds of harmful plants, atid in acting as 

 scavengers. 



Leading entomologists estimate that in- 

 sects cause an annual U^ss of at least two 

 hundred million dollars to the agricul- 

 tural interests of the United States. The 

 statement seems incredible, but is based 

 upon reliable statistics. This, of course, 

 does not include the damage done to 

 ornamental shiubbery, shade and forest 

 trees. lUit, if insects are the natural 

 enemies of vegetation, birds are the nat- 

 ural enemies of insects. Consider for a 

 moment what the birds are doing for us 

 any summer day, when insects are so 

 abundant that tlie hum of their united 

 voices becomes an almost inherent part 

 of the atmos])here. 



In the air swallows and swifts are 



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