FLICKER. 53 



woodpeckers whose flesh is considered palatable, and a few years ago 

 large numbers were shot for market every fall when wild black 

 cherries were ripe. The bird is so fond of this fruit that when feeding 

 in the trees it loses its natural shyness and is easily approached and 

 killed. Fortunately it is now protected by law in most of the States, 

 and it should be in all. It is a bird of the open country rather than 

 of the forest. It is much more wary than the hairy or downy. It 

 visits the orchard regularly, but does not make serious inroads on 

 the fruit, and it forages much upon the ground — in fact, in spite of 

 its liking for tall trees, the nicker is the most terrestrial of American 

 woodpeckers. 



This species is distributed over the whole of the eastern United 

 States and north to Canada and Alaska, and is replaced in the West 

 by the red-shafted nicker. The two forms meet on the Great Plains 

 and along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain region and 

 intermingle in all degrees of hybridism. Typical specimens of either 

 species are frequently taken far within the range of the other, as, for 

 instance, a perfect Colaptes auratus was collected by the writer a few 

 miles east of Haywards, Cal., while typical C. cafer collaris can be 

 taken every winter at Ames, Iowa. With the possible exception of 

 the yellow-bellied woodpecker, the eastern nicker is the most migra- 

 tory American species. In winter it is rarely seen in New England 

 and only in small numbers in the other northern States. As it 

 breeds abundantly in Canada, it becomes very numerous in the 

 northern tier of States in fall when migrating. At this time it sub- 

 sists largely upon wild cherries and other wild fruits. 



The nicker rears from 6 to 10 young in each brood. The nest is 

 built in a cavity excavated in a partially decayed tree, and is often 

 quite elaborate, but in some cases it is in a hole caused by natural 

 decay, where little or no preparatory work is required. The young 

 find their voices very early in life, and by the time they are a week old 

 make a great outcry every time they receive a visit from their parents 

 or even hear approaching footsteps. 



Complaints have been made that the flicker eats corn and culti- 

 vated fruit to an injurious extent, but the charges are not very 

 specific, and the stomach contents do not indicate extensive depre- 

 dations of this kind. 



For the investigation of the food of the eastern flicker, 684 stomachs 

 were available. They were collected in 35 States, the District of 

 Columbia, and Canada, and are very evenly distributed through the 

 year. The food consists of 60.92 per cent of animal matter to 39.08 

 of vegetable. In addition the stomachs contain considerable fine 

 sand, which is probably not taken to aid digestion, but is swallowed 

 accidentally with some kinds of food, notably ants. Quite a quantity 

 of vegetable rubbish is taken in the same way. 



