650 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
the trees are very interesting, often looking like strange 
carved traceries, and then again whole squares of bark will be 
torn off, showing the inner bark and causing the sap to es- 
cape. — See Stearns and Cones , N. E. Bird Life. 
THE SAPSUCKER 
A bacchant for sweets is the Sapsucker free ! 
“ The spring is here, and I’m thirsty ! ” quoth he : 
“ There’s good drink, and plenty, stored up in this cave ; 
’Tis ready to broach ! ” quoth the Sapsucker brave. 
A bacchant for sweets ! “ ’Tis nectar I seek ! ” 
And he raps on the tree with his sharp-whetted beak; 
And he drinks, in the wild March wind and the sun, 
The coveted drops, as they start and run. 
He girdles the maple round and round — 
’Tis heart-blood he drinks at each sweet wound; 
And his bacchanal song is the tap-tap-tap, 
That brings from the dark, the clear-flowing sap. 
Edith M. Thomas in Bird-Lore 
Flicker: Colaptes auratus. R. 
Golden-winged Woodpecker; Yellow-hammer, High-hole, Clape 
Length: 12-13 inches. 
Male: Above golden brown, barred with black. Black crescent on 
breast, red band on back of head. Round black spots on the 
belly, black cheek patch. Wing linings and shafts of wing and 
tail quills gamboge-yellow. Rump white. Bill slender, curving, 
and pointed, and dark lead-color; feet lead-color. 
Female: Lacks black cheek patches. 
Note: “ Wick-wick-wick-wick ! ” Also a few guttural notes. “A 
prolonged, jovial laugh.” (Audubon.) 
Season: Resident, but most plentiful from April to October. 
Nest: In partly decayed trees in orchard, garden, or wood. 
Eggs: Usually 6, white. 
Next to the rare Pileated Woodpecker, or Log Cock, the 
Flicker is our largest New England Woodpecker, and at the 
same time the most abundant. Until a short time ago it was 
shot as a game bird in Connecticut for the sake of its plump, 
pigeon-like flesh, but now, happily, it is protected, and if any 
one shoots it under any pretext whatever he is breaking the 
law. 
