Flicker 
199 
plus than to travel to a land of plenty when 
winter comes. Heretofore this red-headed 
cousin has been reckoned a migratory member 
of the home-loving woodpecker clan, but only 
where he could not find plenty of beechnuts to 
keep him through the winter. 
FLICKER 
Called also: High-hole; Clape; Golden-winged 
Woodpecker; Yellow-hammer; Yucker 
Why should the flicker discard family tradi- 
tions and wear clothes so different from those 
of his relations? His upper parts are dusty 
brown, narrowly barred with black, and the 
large white patch on his lower back, so con- 
spicuous as he flies from you, is one of the best 
marks of identification on his big handsome 
body. His head is graj'’ with a black streak 
below the eye, and a scarlet band across the 
nape of the neck, while the upper side of the 
wing feathers is black relieved by golden shafts. 
Underneath, the wings are a lovely golden yel- 
low, seen only when the bird flies toward you. 
His breast, which is a pale, pinkish brown, is 
divided from the throat by a black crescent, 
smaller than the meadowlark’s, and below this 
half-moon of jet there are many black spots. 
