174 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



pecans) furnishes the largest single item in the food (about 

 30 per cent) and a large variety of wild fruits and berries with 

 a littte corn make up the rest of the vegetable food. The bird 

 is known to attack oranges and sometimes does considerable 

 damage to that crop. Many insects are destroyed, also, in- 

 cluding ants, grasshoppers, eggs of cockroaches, and cater- 

 pillars.f 



FLICKER; YELLOWHAMMER : Colaptes auratus mratus 



(Linnaeus) . 



State records. — The flicker is probably the most abundant 

 of the woodpeckers, particularly in winter, when large num- 

 bers of northern birds sojourn in the State. The southern 

 race (aui'atus), during the breeding season, occupies the whole 

 of the State except the extreme northern part. Breeding 

 specimens have been examined from Sand Mountain (near 

 Carpenter) , Ardell, and Autaugaville. It was tolerably com- 

 mon at Dothan, but scarce at Castleberry and in the coast belt 

 generally. Wintering individuals have been collected at Jack- 

 son, February 19 ; and at Carlton, February 29 (1912) . Eggs 

 have been taken at Barachias, April 20, 1908, and at York, 

 June 17, 1887. 



General habits. — ^The flicker is much less arboreal than the 

 other woodpeckers, and seeks its food very largely on the 

 ground, in pastures and cultivated fields. It prefers partly 

 open country both for foraging and for its nesting site and, 

 although usually rather shy, often makes its home in orchards 

 or along public roads, and not infrequently drills a hole in 

 the weatherboarding of a dwelling house, barn, or church. 



The birds are sociable and often gather into loose flocks 

 when feeding. Their notes are all pleasing and characteristic. 

 The ordinary call is a mellow, resonant cuh, ctth, cuh, cvh, 

 rapidly repeated, and most often heard in spring. Another 

 call or alarm note, heard at all seasons, is a loud, squealing, 

 chee-aJi, chee-ah. In the mating season, the birds indulge 

 in a variety of curious antics and love notes, including the 



tConsult Beal, F. E. L., Food of the woodpeckers of United States : Biol. Surv. Bull. 

 S7, pp. 47-52, 1911. 



