have seen," says an observer, "few more amusing
performances than the courtship of a pair of these birds." The defeated
suitor takes his rejection quite philosophically, and retreats in a
dignified manner, probably to make other trials elsewhere. Few birds
deserve our good will more than the Flicker. He is exceedingly useful,
destroying multitudes of grubs, larvae, and worms. He loves berries and
fruit but the damage he does to cultivated fruit is very trifling.

The Flicker begins to build its nest about two weeks after the bird
arrives from the south. It prefers open country, interspersed with
groves and orchards, to nest in. Any old stump, or partly decayed limb
of a tree, along the banks of a creek, beside a country road, or in
an old orchard, will answer the purpose. Soft wood trees seem to be
preferred, however. In the prairie states it occasionally selects
strange nesting sites. It has been known to chisel through the weather
boarding of a dwelling house, barns, and other buildings, and to nest
in the hollow space between this and the cross beams; its nests have
also been found in gate posts, in church towers, and in burrows of
Kingfishers and bank swallows, in perpendicular banks of streams. One
of the most peculiar sites of his selection is described by William A.
Bryant as follows: "On a small hill, a quarter of a mile distant from
any home, stood a hay stack which had been placed there two years
previously. The owner, during the winter of 1889-90, had cut the stack
through the middle and hauled away one portion, leaving the other
standing, with the end smoothly trimmed. The following spring I noticed
a pair of flickers about the stack showing signs of wanting to make it
a fixed habitation. One morning a few days later I was amused at the
efforts of one of the pair. It was clinging to the perpendicular end of
the stack and throwing out clipped hay at a rate to defy competition.
This work continued for a week, and in that time the pair had excavated
a cavity twenty inches in depth. They remained in the vicinity until
autumn. During the winter the remainder of the stack was removed. They
returned the following spring, and, after a brief sojourn, departed for
parts unknown."

From five to nine eggs are generally laid. They are glossy white in
color, and when fresh appear as if enameled.

The young are able to leave the nest in about sixteen days; they crawl
about on the limbs of the tree for a couple of days b