BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
55 
Colaptes auratus. Flicker. 412. 
While the Flicker is a permanent resident, but few are to be found 
in winter. The pastures lying between Oyster river and Adams's 
Point are practically covered with juniper and barberry bushes, which 
retain their fruit indefinitely and furnish an abundance of food for 
certain birds, among which is the flicker, that otherwise must starve 
or migrate when winter comes. I seldom fail to find a Flicker or two 
on this tract, regardless of the time of year. I have recorded them on 
the following dates: November 20, January 22, February 14, March 
6. I do not usually see more than one at a time in winter. An 
individual that took up his abode in Mr. Hoyfs pasture, back of 
Thompson hall, early in the spring of 1899, evidently became very 
lonely as the weather grew warmer. Day after day he called in vain. 
No answer came till the twentieth of April, when three others put in 
an appearance. After that I heard no more complaint. Apparently 
the one had stayed here through the winter, while the three were 
migrants. The majority go southward during the first half of October, 
straggling along without any concerted movement. By the first of 
May the northward wave of migration has passed. The habits of the 
Flicker are considerably different from those of our other woodpeckers. 
Most of its food comes from the earth. In summer ants are consumed 
in great quantities. I have opened many stomachs that were crowded 
with ants. As small fruits ripen, they are levied upon. Cherries and the 
fruit of the sour gum are particular favorites. In fierce winter weather 
FHckers frequently cling to the lee side of a good sized tree for shelter 
from high winds. Itr, nest is usually drilled out of a dead tree, and it 
may be easily found while the work is going on, by listening for the 
subdued sound of pecking inside the tree. 
Order iM AC ROC HI RES. 
Family CAPRIMULGID.^. 
Antrostomus vociferus. Whip-poor-will. 417. 
Whip-poor-wills come from the south about the middle of May and 
remain until late in September. The earliest date of their appear- 
ance recorded in my notes is May 13, when I saw both male and 
female. The latest date that I have observed one in the fall is Sep- 
tember 26. I have heard the well known call " Whip-poor-will " as late 
as September 16. Their food consists of flying insects which are taken 
