Cambridge, Mass.
1906.
March 15
  Flickers sometimes climb the trunks of trees in
the manner characteristic of other and more typical
Woodpeckers stopping to tap at decayed places and
prying off occasional scales of loose bark. They do all
this, however, in a listless, perfunctory kind of way
as if they were not really interested in the quest 
for grubs by such means nor very sanguine as to its
material successes. I doubt if they often obtain much
of their food in this manner. They have been
feeding through the winter, in our garden, on the
fruit of the Parkman's apple. Usually there are no more
than one or two birds in the trees at once but
on two occasions we have seen four there together.
They appear at all hours but oftenest in the forenoon.
As a rule they bend forward and downward to
get the apples performing this action rather clumsily
and often spread their tails and half opening
their wings in their efforts to keep this balance.
The tiny apples are pecked off one at a time,
with considerable deliberation, and are swallowed
whole.