THE FLICKER 



( Colaptes auratus) 



Above him in the sycamore 



The FHcker beats a dull tattoo; 

 Through pawpaw groves the soft airs pour 



Gold dust of blooms and fragrance new. 



Maurice Thompson, "The Blue Heron." 



In the Flicker, Nature has produced 

 one of the most beautiful and one of 

 the most interesting of birds. As we 

 wander through the woods we are greeted 

 by the happy "cheer up" call of this hand- 

 some bird and as we draw nearer we 

 may see Mister Flicker seek another and 

 more distant retreat in a series of long, 

 wave-like flights, his golden wings flash- 

 ing in the sunlight like burnished gold. 

 He is careful to keep the tree between 

 himself and his human observer, and he 

 will take nervous little peeks at us, 

 around the side of the tree, just to keep 

 posted about our movements. A notice- 

 able characteristic of this bird is its habit 

 of perching crosswise on a limb like the 

 perching birds, thus differing from most 

 birds of this order, which always cling 

 to the side of the tree trunk. Another 

 peculiarity in his fondness for hunting 

 insects on the ground. 



The wide range of this Woodpecker, 

 from the Atlantic "Ocean to the Rocky 

 ]\Iountains, has caused it to receive many 

 different names in different parts of the 

 country. The most notable of these are 

 Yellow-Hammer, Yellow-shafted Flicker, 

 Wake-up, High-holder, High-hole, Clape, 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker and Pigeon 

 Woodpecker. On the Pacific coast the 

 Flicker is replaced by a closely related 

 species called the red-shafted flicker. 



The Golden-winged Woodpeckers go 

 south in the fall, although a few individ- 

 uals remain in the northern states 

 through the winter. They return in the 

 early spring, about the middle of March 

 and mating begins early in May. At this 

 season of the year, these birds beat the 

 "long roll" by tapping rapidly on a hol- 

 low tree with a thin covering or shell. 

 This is a signal which seems to be used 

 only during the mating season. 



The actions of the males during the 

 season of mating are very amusing and 

 interesting. The great ornithologist, 

 Audubon, has given us one of the best 



descriptions of the courtship of the Flick- 

 ers. He says "Their note is merriment 

 itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jovial 

 laugh, heard at a considerable distance. 

 Several males pursue a female, reach her, 

 and to prove the force and truth of their 

 love bow their heads, spread their tails, 

 and move sideways, backwards, and for- 

 ward, performing such antics as might 

 induce anyone witnessing them, if not of 

 a most morose temper, to join his laugh 

 to theirs. The female flies to another tree, 

 where she is closely followed by one, 

 two, or even half a dozen of these gay 

 suitors, and where again the same cere- 

 monies are gone through. No fightings 

 occur, no jealousies seem to exist among 

 these beaus, until a marked perference is 

 shown to some individual, when the re- 

 jected proceed in search of another 

 female. In this manner, all the Golden- 

 winged Woodpeckers are soon happily 

 mated. Each pair immediately proceed 

 to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish 

 a hole in it sufificient to contain them- 

 selves and their young. Should the male, 

 for instance, be employed, the female is 

 close to him and congratulates him on 

 the removal of every chip which his bill 

 sends through the air. While he rests, 

 he appears to be speaking to her on the 

 most tender subjects. In this manner, 

 by the alternate exertions of each, the 

 hole is dug and finished." 



The nest hole may be as much as 

 twenty inches in depth and is dug in a 

 variety of situations. Tree trunks with 

 soft wood are preferred, but the nests are 

 sometimes found in stumps, gate posts, 

 church steeples, between the weather- 

 boards and the cross beams of houses, in 

 barns, and in the nests of bank swallows 

 and kingfishers. It is recorded that a 

 pair once dug a hole to a depth of twenty 

 inches in an old hay stack, and success- 

 fully raised a brood of young in it. 



Five or six pure white eggs are laid. 



which measure about an inch in length 



131 



