BIRD PARADISE 37 



followed by a loud call was the first knowledge 

 I had of their presence. They went up and 

 down the bird ways of the village park and 

 made merry in the lawns and orchards. I had 

 the notion that they were trying to tell our peo- 

 ple where they had spent the winter, and of the 

 new life it had put into their keeping. I have 

 seen the fellows in the South and they carry 

 about with them the same rollicking spirit that 

 marks their demeanor here at the North. Flicker 

 seems to be true to his flicker nature wherever 

 he may be. "Work and play with him are golden 

 opportunities for being cheery and stout hearted 

 and he improves to the utmost aU that is offered 

 him in this way. I noticed that the pair who 

 made me the visit so early in the season called 

 at the flicker home in the maple front of the 

 church. The English sparrows vacated the 

 premises at the first warning. Someway they 

 have a wholesome fear of flicker and never dis- 

 pute his title to any of the things in mother 

 nature's house. Prom what I see I judge that 

 flicker repairs his old home each spring — papers 

 and paints as it were — using it for several years. 

 One of my favorite pastimes is watching the 

 workmen when they are constructing a new 

 house. The stout bill is all the tool they have, 



