BIRD PARADISE 41 



calls. When I appear on the scene I fancy that 

 the pair vie together in giving me a cheery greet- 

 ing. I take it as a morning salutation and I am 

 sure it does me good. Such an amount of talk- 

 ing as they do at the door of their house is not 

 rivaled by any other bird. If free-spirited dis- 

 cussion contributes to the well-being of the 

 flicker home, then these birds are greatly blessed. 

 Some of their talks convey the idea that they do 

 not always fully agree on the shape and finish of 

 the house they are building. The disagreements, 

 however, do not seem to interfere particularly with 

 the progress of the work. I noticed this evening 

 that when the rain came on both birds managed 

 to find cover in the cavity they had made. 



I was reading recently of the fact that a few 

 of the old-time passenger pigeons were still left 

 far up in the wilds of British Columbia and that 

 a brief time more would entirely exterminate the 

 species. It seems impossible that a bird which 

 was found in every part of our country in such 

 immense numbers should have reached the end of 

 its career. We well remember when the spring 

 and fall flights of these birds fairly darkened the 

 air. In 1840 the fall flight menaced the wheat 



