Evening star., 1939-03-29
BY Y. E. BOOKER.

Flicker nor Mama Flicker was seen
entering or leaving the hole, the
Jones family heard from time to time
pecking and scratching down within
the column and we're we'll pleased
that apparently the flicker family
was comfortably housed. Mr.. and
Mrs Jones took great pride in re-
lating to their neighbors how the
flickers were being reared inside
one of the columns on their back
porch.
This year, probably because of the
unusually warm weather, the flickers
apparently decided to begin house
keeping somewhat earlier than usual.
In fact, on Friday, March "a, the
Jones were pleasantly surprised to
hear a steady rata-tat-tat from
deep down in the center of the
pillar. Having heard this often be-
fore in years past, they were not
surprised nor were they at all puzzled
by the fact that during the whole
day neither Papa or Mama Flicker
ventured outside No one was pay
ing close attention to the hole, but
the natural conclusion was that the
f1ickers were making minor repairs
and doing their spring house
cleaning preparatory to setting up
housekeeping for the summer.
Activity Increases.
Last Saturday the activity of the
Flickers had apparently increased,
for throughout the day the pecking
inside the pillar continued almost
constantly but still no member of
the family thought anything unusual
was taking place, and certainly not
one of them dreamed that stark
tragedy was bing enacted, if not on
their very threshold at least on the
inside of their porch.
Sunday the sound continued, but
still nobody caught ever a glimpse of
either of the birds On Monday
there was such hammering going
on inside the pillar that the suspi-
cions of 12-year-old Edmund L.
Jones, jr., known to his pals as
"Bucky," was aroused and he decided
to investigate. His theory was that
for some mysterious reason all was
not we'll with the Flicker family. so
he gave the pillar a rather close
scrutiny and to his surprise he found
tiny hole, scarcely large enough
to stick match stem in, near the
bottom OF the pillar and could hear
the bird Rtsrking franticafiy from
the inside. 1t was almost Stime to
start for school, but he got a chisel
and succeeded in enlarging the hole
to what he thought was suffiefent
size to let the bird escape if, as he
thought, it was trapped within. He
then hurried off to school. A half
hour later his mother happened to
pass near the pillar and saw the
long beak of Flicker protruding
through the small hole at the bottom
OF the post, apparently making fran
tic efforts to escape, but the hole
was not nearly large enough. so she
called to Mrs. Y. E. Booker in the
adjoining garden and they went to
work with hammer and chisel to en-
large the mole.
Flicker Continues Work.
This process involved much ham,
mering and they feared they would
frighten the bird to such an extent
that he would never return to his
nest. To their surprise, however,
the flicker instead of crouching
down in silent terror or f1uttering in
panlcky effort to escape, kept
right on with his work on the inside
while the hammer and chisel were
pounding on the outside within an
inch of his head. Even more amaz-
ing was the fact that the bird not
only continued to peck industriously
at the hole but appeared to realize
fully that succor was at hand, and
whenever a splinter or chip was
loosened by the chisel, it was
promptly seized in the strong, sharp
beak of the bird and removed from
the hole. So eager was the bird to
help with the work that the rescuers
had difficulty to keep from injuring
it with the chisel. When the. hole
had been sufficiently enlarged, out
flew most pitiful but nonetheless
happy flicker which made a bee line
for the nearby birdbath and drank
and drank and drank. 1t then flew
down into the flower beds and
feasted on earth worms, which at
this season of the year are plentiful.
Bucky Investigates.
When Bucky got back from school
he proceeded to investigate further,
thinking there might be young
birds inside the column. When he
peeped down into the dark depths
OF the hole he was sure he could
see two or three young birds, but
they did not move and he feared
the worst. He thrust his arm down
into the hole and pulled out not two
or three young f1ickers but seven
teen dead starlings. Since he could
reach no further, larger hole was
made further down and then it was
discovered that the bottom portion
of the pillar was filled with the re-
mains of dead birds in various stages
of decomposition. At the bottom
he found a mass of feathers, claws
and beaks of birds which evidently
had been entombed for several years.
Most of the dead were starlingS, but
there were several members OF the
woodpecker family included In the
ghastly collection.
Then the full extent, of the
tragedy was revealed. The hole
originally drilled in the top OF the
pillar had converted it into a death
trap and birds that entered to make
nests or seek warmth during the
winter fell to the bottom and not
even the sharp-clawed woodpeckers
could climb up the smooth inside
OF the post and reach the exit.
Careful examination of the inside
OF the pillar, which was made of
four boards and rectangular in
shape, revealed that the unfortunate
Flicker had made considerable
progress in his efforts to peck his