THE FLICKER 



The Flicker is most beloved in March, when his hearty shout 

 is one of the characteristic sounds of the first warm days of early 

 spring. The same week which brings the Bluebird and the Black- 

 bird hears the cheerful song of the Song Sparrow and the loud 

 call of the Flicker. 



Though a woodpecker, the Flicker has departed somewhat from 

 the habits of its relatives, spending considerable time on the ground, 

 and depending largely for its food on berries and ants. It is often 

 startled from lawns and hillsides, where it has been thrusting its 

 long tongue into colonies of black ants, seizing them on the moist, 

 brushy tip. When so engaged, the bird may sometimes be closely 

 approached, and a sight of its plumage is then a revelation to one 

 who has seen from a distance only its dark brown body and white 

 rump. The ashy gray nape sets off a bright red patch; there is 

 a handsome black crescent across the breast, and the male wears 

 black mustaches. The breast is handsomely spotted, and the quills 

 and undersides of the wing and tail feathers are golden yellow. 

 Unless one can steal up close to a bird, few of these marks show; 

 but the Flicker may always be distinguished by his size (he is 

 the largest of our common birds except the Crow), by the white 

 rump, and the gleam of yellow which has given him the name 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker. The flight, too, like that of all the 

 woodpeckers, is characteristic; the wing strokes are slow, and between 

 them the bird drops a little, so that its progress is in waves instead 

 of in a straight line. 



