4 TH E AUDUBON [BU DaD eee 
some land north of Spokane, Washington. In that section of the country it 
was the habit of farmers to shoot at every hawk and owl they saw, and the 
result was that rodents over-ran fields and orchards, destroying the crops. 
The farmers were continually spending time and money to keep down these 
pests when all they had to do was to stop killing the hawks and owls that 
would do the work for them. 
Woodpeckers are always interesting. One may recognize a woodpecker 
in the air by its undulating flight. At the high point of a semi-circle which 
it describes, it seems to pause for a second. When searching tree trunks 
and branches for insects or larve, a woodpecker inches along, supported 
by its spiny tail. Nuttall’s woodpecker was quite common here in late 
February and March when the almond trees were in bloom. The male is a 
handsome small black and white bird, its black back barred with rows of 
white dots, the sides of its face barred with black and white, and it has a 
red cap, in common with several other woodpeckers. 
Lewis’ woodpecker is beautiful but odd. It is about the size of a small 
crow and flies like a crow. A near-by view reveals a bird with a glossy 
black head and back, either side of the face dark red, around its neck a 
gray collar, the breast gray, below which it is a magnificent rose-red. It is 
fond of acorns, I have read, and stores them by pounding them into decayed 
tree-trunks as does the California woodpecker. Lewis’ woodpecker likes 
fruit also, and I hear, too, is fond of almonds and so is disliked by some 
almond-growers. Nevertheless it assists these growers by destroying 
quantities of insects it finds in the orchards—it even catches insects on the 
wing. If you want to see one of these woodpeckers, observe carefully each 
telephone pole. You will likely spy one at the top, or clinging to the pole 
on the shady side if the time is late afternoon. 
Sapsuckers are members of the woodpecker family. If ycu see a white 
stripe running lengthwise of the wing of a bird clinging to a tree wood- 
pecker style, you may know you are looking at a sapsucker. The bird is so 
named from its habit of boring holes into the bark of trees so that it may 
drink the sap that drips out. It also secures insects that are attracted to 
the sap. In Banning I have seen a very beautiful sapsucker—the red- 
breasted. 
A flicker is said to be so named from its call, “Fli-a, fli-a, fli-a.” It is 
a large tan-colored bird with spotted breast, marked by a wide black 
crescent. The red-shafted fiicker is the one we have here. The salmon-red 
on the under side of wings and tail shows distinctly when in flight; also 
showing distinctly in flight is a large white spot on the rump. A red mark, 
generally known as the moustache mark, extends from the base of the bill 
downward beneath the eye. Flickers feed much of the time on the ground 
for they are great ant eaters. They thrust their long tongues into ant 
hills and draw out their prey. They also eat insects found in the bark of 
trees. The red-shafted flicker and Lewis’ woodpecker remain with us 
throughout the year, but the sapsuckers spend their summers in higher 
altitudes. 
The male .Brewer’s blackbird is the very glossy blackbird with the 
lemon-colored eyes, sitting, toward evening, on a telephone wire beside his 
brownish mate with dark eyes. These birds make chattering sounds as they 
