FLICKER. 55 



houses and become a positive nuisance, as, having their nest in an 

 inaccessible place, it is almost impossible to destroy them. Other 

 species estabhsh colonies in lawns or gardens and are so persistent 

 that nothing short of digging out and carrying off the whole area of 

 earth which they have preempted will rout them from their chosen 

 home. When timber has been injured by wood-boring beetle larvae, 

 ants enlarge the burrows and in a few years riddle and spoil the whole 

 trunk. The worst sin of the ants, however, is that they protect and 

 foster plant hce in every possible way. They defend them from their 

 enemies, cover them with sheds to shield them from inclement 

 weather, and upon the approach of winter they carry some species 

 into the ground and place them on the roots of plants for the winter 

 and at the return of warm weather bring them to the upper air and 

 place them in a position suitable to their needs. As plant Hce con- 

 stitute one of the worst pests to horticulture, their protectors are a 

 nuisance and should be destroyed. As we have seen, flickers devour 

 enormous numbers of them and aid essentially in holding them in 

 check. Hymenoptera other than ants amount to only four one- 

 hundredths of 1 per cent of the yearly food. 



Bugs (Hemiptera) are eaten in nearly every month, but only in 

 smaU quantities. In January, February, and May they reach an 

 average of about 3 per cent, but in no other month do they amount 

 to even 1 per cent. One stomach contaiaed scales not further identi- 

 fied, another held 1 7 cliinch bugs (Blissus leucopferus) , and in another 

 were what were probably the same in an early stage of growth. Two 

 stomachs contained each a single bedbug {Cimex lectularius), prob- 

 ably taken on trial and not reUshed. Cicadas, or harvest flies 

 (Tihicen rimcsa), were found in several stomachs. The aggregate of 

 Hemiptera for the year is only 0.85 per cent. 



Orthoptera, ui the shape of grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches, 

 amount to 2.39 per cent. They are eaten in every month, but not 

 very regularly. Singularly, the maximum quantity was taken in 

 January, 9.77 per cent, which is more than twice the amount in any 

 other month. This record, however, was made by birds taken in 

 Texas, which had partaken freely of crickets. The least consump- 

 tion occurs in August, the grasshopper month, which shows that the 

 flicker is not a lover of grasshoppers. 



Lepidoptera, in the form of caterpillars, are eaten very sparingly — 

 in fact in only three months do they amount to as much as 1 per cent. 

 In August they reach 4.91 per cent, 3.13 in June, and 3.29 in No- 

 vember. The only one identified was the common zebra caterpillar 

 ojf the gardens {Mamestra picta). The total for the year is 1.28iper 

 cent. A few fly larvae, spiders, myriapods, crustaceans, and snails 

 make up the rest of the animal food. Larvae of Tipulidse (crane flies) 

 were found in 3 stomachs and Bihio larvae (March flies) in 2. As 



