Evening star., 1947-04-24
This and That
By Charles E. Tr1ceDeH.
"FAIRFAX, Va.

FAIRFAX, Va.
Dear Sir:
please give me the name OF bird,
slender, brown In color, with red cap
set at rakish angle on the back of his
head
II cannot see the color of his breast.
He seems to crawl close to the ground,
hiding even his feet, and digs his bill
down every few minutes.
I have never seen such bird before,
and am interested in knowing what this
bird is.
THE robins are building their nests in
tall evergreens close to the house. One
ventured on the side porch yesterday
for food.
Il am sorry to say that dogs startle
them by hunting on my place. They
have already killed the baby rabbits
full hatch); and of all sad words of
tongue or pen, the saddest are these:
This early, they have started chasing
skunks, and their path is close to my
house. This happens in the stiffness of
the night, and awakens one from sleep.
Why were such beasts thrust upon us
by nature, or from whatever source they
come?
Cordially, S. T."
Our correspondents bird is the flicker
a fine member of the woodpecker group
He has bright scarlet patch on the
back of his head, and black crescent on
his breast.
The feathers on his legs come down
so low that he does seem to hide his feet.
This is the bird regarded by many as
the most interesting of the woodpeckers,
He is friendly and industrious, and
spends great real of his time searching
for ants.
OF the time, as he pokes that long bill
down into the sod, or into a crevice in
the sidewalks. Householders who dis
like ants should always welcome the
flicker. The bird also pursues them on
trees, and is thus of double service to
mankind
In various parts of the country he
has been given many names. A few
are yellow-shafted woodpecker, golden
winged woodpecker, clape, pigeon wood
pecker, yellow hammer, high-hole, high
holder, yarrup, wakeup, walkup, wickup,
hairy wicket, wood pigeon, yawker bird.
These interesting names have mostly
to do with the nesting habits and the
cries. The nest is high, in tree trunk
or large limb, or in stubs. Many eggs
are laid, from five to nine, usually.
The flicker makes noises which have
been variously explained as yarrup,
clape, and weechem. The up-and- down
way of flying is responsible for the name
of flicker today the most popular
The male bird has sort of moustache
beneath the eye, running from the base
of the bill. The female does not have
this marking.
The length of the flicker is IL inches.
For such good sized fellow he gets
along wonderfully well with the smaller
species, notably the robins, bluebirds
and the various sparrows. But he does
not draw the line of friendship there.
He manages to be on friendly terms
with hawks! This Is something few other
species manage.
Most of this birds food, including the
ants, is harmful to man, in some way
or other. 1t does take few vegetables
and grains, but examination of many
stomachS shows the amount to be very
small, SO no one need worry.
One authority says: THE bird, like
many others, has the bad habit of SOW
ing broadcast the seeds of the poison
ivy, but there seems to be no remedy
for this"
The woodpeckers and sapSuckers make
an interesting group. A great many
persons unfortunately place the blame
for some tree damage caused by sap
suckers on the woodpeckers. As one
authority puts it, When they are seen
scrambling over fruit trees and their
holes are found in the bark it is con-
cluded that they must be doing harm.
The woodpeckers, except few species,
rarely dis1gure healthy tree. But
when they find tree infested by wood
boring larvae they locate the insects
accurately, draw them out and devour
them. If, in the years that follow, the
borings formerly occupied by these in
sects are used by colony Of ants, they
in their turn are dug out and destroyed"
The flicker's bill is less powerful than
those of other woodpeckers. Certainly
ne one need fear him in any way.