One of the larger woodpeckers familiar to everyone is the flicker, or golden-winged woodpecker[57] (fig. 21), which is generally distributed throughout the United States from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. There it is replaced by the red-shafted flicker,[58] which extends westward to the Pacific. The two species are as nearly identical in food habits as their respective environments will allow. The flickers, while genuine woodpeckers, differ somewhat in habits from the rest of the family, and are frequently seen searching for food upon the ground. Like the downy and hairy woodpeckers, they feed upon wood-boring grubs and ants, but the number of ants eaten is much greater than that eaten by the other two species. Of the flickers’ stomachs examined, three were completely filled with ants. Two of these contained more than 3,000 individuals each, while the third contained fully 5,000. These ants belong to species which live in the ground. It is these insects for which the flicker searches when it runs about in the grass, although some grasshoppers also are then taken. The flicker’s habit of pecking holes in buildings sometimes greatly annoys his human friends, and it is particularly noticeable in the California species. Observation has shown that the object of the work is to obtain shelter for the winter. In the East most of the flickers are migratory, and only a few remain North where shelter is necessary. These generally find a safe retreat in the hollow tree in which they nested. In California, however, where the birds do not migrate, trees are not so abundant as in the East, and consequently buildings are brought into requisition, and in them holes are drilled, usually under the eaves, where snug nights’ lodgings are found. Often a dozen holes may be seen in one building. Barns or other outbuildings are usually selected, though churches sometimes have been used. [57] _Colaptes auratus._ [58] _Colaptes cafer collaris._ [Illustration: Fig. 22.—Red-headed woodpecker. Length, about 9½ inches.] The red-headed woodpecker[59] (fig. 22), is well known east of the Rocky Mountains, but is rather rare in New England. Unlike some of the other species, it prefers fence posts and telegraph poles to trees as a foraging ground. Its food therefore naturally differs from that of the preceding species, and consists largely of adult beetles and wasps which it frequently captures on the wing after the fashion of flycatchers. Grasshoppers also form an important part of the food. Among the beetles are a number of predacious ground species and some tiger beetles, which are useful insects. The red-head has been accused of robbing nests of other birds, and of pecking out the brains of young birds and poultry; but as the stomachs showed little evidence to substantiate this charge, the habit probably is exceptional. [59] _Melanerpes erythrocephalus._