Flicker 
201 
all through these bird biographies that the 
structure and colouring of every bird are 
adapted to its kind of life, each member of the 
same family varying according to its habits. 
The kind of food a bird eats and its method of 
getting it, of course, bring about most, if not 
all, of the variations from the family type. 
Each is fitted for its own life, “even as 
you and I.’’ 
Like your pet pigeon, the hummingbird, 
and several other birds, parent flickers pump 
partly digested food from their own stomachs 
into those of their hungry babies. Imagine 
how many trips would have to be taken to a 
nest if ants were carried there one by one! 
How can the birds be sure they will not thrust 
their bills through the eyes of their blind, naked 
and helpless babies in so dark a hole? It must 
be very difficult to find the mouths and be sure 
none is neglected. Like the little pig you all 
know about, I suspect there is always at least 
one little flicker in the dark tree-hollow that 
“gets none” each trip. 
