FLICKER. 17 
terrestrial of all the woodpeckers, in spite of his high-perching and 
high-nesting proclivities, and may often be seen walking about in the 
grass like a meadow lark. 
In the investigation of its food habits 230 stomachs were examined, 
taken in every month of the year, although January and February 
have but 1 each. They were collected in 22 States, the District of 
Columbia, and the Northwest Territory, and are fairly well distributed 
over the region east of the Rocky Mountains. They contained 56 per 
cent of animal matter, 39 percent of vegetable, and 5 percent of min- 
eral. It will be seen that the quantity of animal or insect material is 
less than in either of the preceding species, and the mineral matter 
somewhat greater. The following orders of insects were represented: 
Fic, 2.—Flicker. 
Ants (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), grasshop- 
pers and crickets (Orthoptera), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), May flies (Ephe- 
merida) and whiteants (Isoptera). Spiders and myriapodsalso were pres- 
ent. An inspection of this insect matter shows the rather remarkable 
fact that more than three-fourths of it, or 43 percent of the whole food, 
consists of ants. If the mineral matter is thrown out as not being prop- 
erly food, we find that more than 45 percent of the Flicker’s food for 
the year consists of ants. Among the stomachs examined several 
contained nothing but ants. In two of these the actual number of ants 
present in each stomach exceeded 3,000. These were mostly small 
species that live in burrows in the earth, so that it is evident that 
when Flickers are seen upon the ground they are usually in search of 
18269—No. 7——2 
