26 American Birds 



from the bark of a tree, but red-hammer often feeds on 

 berries, grain, and earthworms. According to wood- 

 pecker taste, a bird should cling to the side of a tree, 

 clutching two toes above and two below, with body 

 propped by his tail, but high-hole is independent, and 

 often sits on a limb as an ordinary percher. Nature has 

 given the flicker a bill slightly curved instead of straight 

 and chisel-shaped. But why does this westerner parade 

 the woods in a jaunty suit lined with red, while his 

 eastern cousin flaunts from tree to tree in a yellow-lined 

 jacket? 



High-hole is somewhat of a barbarian among the 

 Romans about the pond. He knows nothing about, nor 

 does he care for, the finer arts of architecture and music. 

 A dark den suits him as well as a mansion. He has a voice 

 like the " holler " of a lusty-lunged, whole-souled plough- 

 boy. As he swings from stump to stump his wings flash 

 red like a beacon light. He shouts " Yar-upl Yar-upl 

 Yar-upl " from the tree-top, or occasionally he breaks the 

 woody silence with a prolonged jovial " Ha 1 Ha I Ha ! " 



There's always a sentiment of the farm about the 

 flicker. Occasionally I see one of the birds here in the 

 midst of the city, but he always reminds me of a back- 

 woods boy on a visit. He never seems at home among 

 the clanging of the cars and the rumbling of the wagons 

 along the paved streets. A few days ago I saw one of 

 these woodpeckers light on the side of a brick building 

 above the busy street. I knew it was an inexperienced 

 bird, for he began jabbing at the tin cornice in a way that 

 seemed to me was likely to splinter his bill. It resounded 

 like a drum. He cocked his head with a surprised expres- 



