Flickers are well known, large Woodpeckers (13 inches long), with a brownish tone to the plumage, barred on the back and spotted on the breast with black. The present species has a golden yellow lining to the wings and tail, and the shafts of the feathers are yellow; it has a red crescent on the nape, and the male has black moustache marks. This species and its sub-variety are the most widely known Woodpeckers in eastern North America, where they are known in different localities, by something like a hundred local names, of which [Illustration 260: 408--411.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: left hand margin.] Page 259 Pigeon Woodpecker and Yellow-hammer seem to be the most universal. They have the undulating flight common to all Woodpeckers and show the white rump patch conspicuously when flying. They are often found on the ground in pastures or on side hills, feeding upon ants; they are more terrestrial than any others of the family. They nest anywhere, where they can find or make a suitable cavity for the reception of their eggs; in trees in woods or solitary trees in large pastures, in apple trees in orchards, in fence posts, in holes under the roofs of buildings, etc. They ordinarily lay from five to ten very glossy eggs, but it has been found that they will continue laying, if one egg is removed from the nest at a time, until in one case seventy-one eggs were secured. Fresh eggs may be found at any time from May until August, as they frequently raise two broods a season. Size of eggs, 1.10 × .90 with considerable variations. 412a. NORTHERN FLICKER. _Colaptes auratus luteus._ Range.--Whole of North America, east of the Rockies, except the southeastern portion. Averaging larger than the preceding, but individual specimens of the northern variety are frequently found to be even smaller than the southern, and vice versa, making the distinction one of the study rather than Nature. 413. RED-SHAFTED FLICKER. _Colaptes cafer collaris._ Range.--United States west of the Rockies. This species is marked similarly to the preceding, but the top of the head is brownish instead of gray, and the underparts of the wings and tail, and their quills are reddish. Neither sex has the red crescent on the back of the head, except in the case of hybrids between the two species, but the male has red moustache marks. There are no differences in the nidification between this species and the preceding, but the eggs of this average a trifle larger (1.15 × .90). 413a. NORTHWESTERN FLICKER. _Colaptes cafer saturatior._ Range.--Pacific coast, breeding from Oregon to Alaska. This is a much darker variety of the Red-shafted Flicker, but its nesting habits or eggs do not differ in any way. [Illustration 261: Northern Flicker.] [Illustration: Red-shafted Flicker.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 260 [Illustration 262: NORTHERN FLICKER.] Page 261