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^Ibe Wa^etbe 
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WISCONSIN AND ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETIES 
One Year 25 Centos 
Single Copy 3 Centos 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society, at, Appleton, Wisconsin. 
Entered 38 second -dass matter May 16, 1904 atthe post office, at Appleton, Wis., under the act of congress of Mar. 3, ’79 
VOL. VII 
SEPTEMBER, 1904 
No. 3 
What I Saw From My Study Window at 
Whitewater, Wis. 
Right opposite my window was an old elm 
tree with a woodpecker’s nest in it. I could 
almost look into the hole; and there in the 
spring of 1903 I saw the prettiest love story 
ever enacted. 
All winter the hole in the tree had been oc¬ 
cupied by a squirrel, but toward the last of 
March I heard the familiar sound of the 
Flicker, and looking out I saw two Flickers 
examining the hole. They were very restless 
and very talkative. They did not enter that 
day but chased up and down the tree. The 
next day another Flicker appeared on the 
scene and then began the most interesting love 
scene I ever witnessed. It lasted for nearly 
three weeks. Miss Flicker was certainly a 
very attractive young lady and a veritable 
coquette, for she kept the two Mr. Flickers 
in a continual state of excitement. Such! ar¬ 
dent and persistent lovers I never sa\y. Mr. 
Flicker No. 1 would go to an old dead limb and 
drum and drum and then fly back and coo 
and gurgle in the most loving tones. Then 
All’. Flicker No. 2, nothing daunted, would go 
to the old dead limb and drum and drum and 
then would fly to the other side of the tree 
and coax and coax. This performance went on 
day after day, attracting the attention of the 
whole household. 
We became so excited at last that we scarce¬ 
ly left the window, for as you know, “all the 
world loves a lover,” and we were very anx¬ 
ious to know which one would win the heart 
of this fair lady bird. 
Finally one day my room-mate and I no¬ 
ticed that things were very quiet and after 
watching for some time we noticed that Mr. 
Flicker No. 1 had been the “winner,” and he 
and his pretty wife were busy getting the nest 
ready. Mr. Flicker No. 2, broken hearted, I 
presume, never appeared on the scene again. 
lor the next two or three weeks it was very 
quiet around the old elm tree. Mr. Flicker 
was very happy and waited on his wife with 
the greatest devotion. 
One morning we were attracted by a queer 
hissing noise and we ran to the window and 
there we saw three little bills sticking out of 
the nest, and father and mother Flicker feed¬ 
ing them. We had often read that the par¬ 
ent Flicker fed the young by regurgitation and 
we saw it for ourselves. For many days and 
many times in the day, for they were such 
hungry little birds, these parent birds fed the 
little ones. This little family was very in- 
teresting and the home life was so real that 
it seemed to us we could understand all their 
cooings and gurglings. 
One morning as early as four o’clock we were 
awakened by the most unusual noise. We 
arose and ran to the window and there the 
parent birds were trying to get the little ones 
to leave the nest and flv away. Such' coax- 
ing and screaming and flying around, but not 
one little Flicker w r as brave enough to face the 
great unknown. For two hours the old birds 
worked hard but all in vain, and the rest of the 
day was spent in quiet. The next morning at 
the same time we again heard the same noise 
and again we ran to the window, but we were 
just too late. Tlfe family of five were just dis¬ 
appearing over the house-top. It was a great 
disappointment as we did want to see the home 
leaving. We never saw our little Flickers 
again; I have heard it said that the young - 
never return to their old home. The old birds 
came back and were seen many times around 
the elm tree. 
We shall never forget this little family that 
made us so happy and gave us so much to 
think about those spring days. 
A. May Wickham. 
