Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/811

* FLICKEL. 727 FLIGHT. liar/" (1888), "Sylvan Solitude" (1892). He was made professor in L89 1. FLICKER (onomatopoetic, from the bird's note). The popular name of one of the common- est and handsomest birds in the eastern United States, the golden-winged woodpecker [Colaptes auratus) . It is a little more than a foot in length, and the bill, which is an inch and a hall long, is slender ami somewhat curved, very unlike the ordinary woodpecker's bill. The back is olive brown, barred with black, while the rump and upper tail-coverts are pure white; the top of the head and the sides of the neck are ash. with a bright scarlet nuchal hand; the under' parts are lilac-brown anteriorly, fading into cream} yellow posteriorly, marked with numerous circular black spots; a broad, black crescent crosses the breast; the wings and tail are on the under side bright golden yellow. When the bird Hies the white rump is very prominent, and makes the recogni- tion of the flicker easy. This beautiful wood- pecker is found throughout North America, as far west as Alaska, but in the United States it is confined to tin tint ry cast of the Kocky Moun- tains. In the northern part of its range it is migratory, but it winters from Massachusetts and Illinois southward. It nests, like all wood- peckers, in holes in trees, and the eggs are white, live or more in number. When the nest is robbed the female will continue to lay, until sometimes more than twenty eggs have been taken from one nest. The flicker feeds on worms, insects, and berries, and is often seen on the ground in search of food. The notes are varied, but the most famil- iar is a rapidly repeated, rolling call. There is also a frequent two-syllabled note, uttered in a high, nasal tone. The flicker enjoys the distinction of having more numerous popular names than any other American bird. No less than thirty-six have been recorded, the most common of which, besides the two already given, are high-hole, or high-holder, referring to the position of the nest; pigeon woodpecker, referring to the size and ap- pearance on the ground; clape and yuoker, which, like flicker, are supposed to imitate one of its notes: and yellow-hammer, referring to the color of the under surface of the wings and its wood- pecker habit of drumming on dead limbs. The red-shafted flicker (Colaptes Meodcanus), west of the Rocky Mountains, is like the com- mon flicker in color, except that the under side of the wings and tail is orange-red. and there is no red nuchal band; in habits it is exactly like the Eastern bird. A third species occurs in the val- ley of the Colorado River and southward, and three other species of the genus are found in the warmer parts of America. Consult: Coues. Birds of the Northtoest (Wash- ington. 1874) : Ingersoll. Wild Life of Orchard and Field (New York. 1002). See Woodpecker; and Plates of Woodpeckers, and of Eggs of Song-Birds. FLICK'INGER, Daniel Kumleb (1824—). An American divine. He was born at Seven- mile. Ohio, and was for nearly thirty years secre- tary to the United Brethren Church Missionary Society, on behalf of which he made numerous tours in Africa, in the capacity of foreign mis- sionary bishop. His experiences in the Park Continent are related in the interesting works entitled: Offhand Sketches of Men and Things in Western Africa (1877): Ethiopia: or. Twenty Years of Missionary Life in Wt tern Africa i 1877) ; Ttu V 1879). FLIEDNER, Qet'ner, THEODOB (1800-64). A German phil t, He was born at Epp stein, Nassau, the aon ot a clergyman, and alter studying at the universities of Giessen and Got 1 ingen, bei e mi pa I t .. small church at Kai- serswerth. He made a tout thi Ken Holland, and Engl i o i in behalf of ii poor parish, and hi i lie idea ot in- inn' -. ni. -Mi in i ii hi i, .ii. and espe- cially prison reform, I man pri on 1 hen hi a verj bad itate. but i hose mien their improvement banded together, and in lH2ii the first Society for Prison Reform oi Germany was founded. Fliedner realized that the fii must be toward looking after the prisoners on their release, and accordingly, in 18.'i3, he - at Kaiserswei t h a refuge for discharged female convicts. To take care ot the sick and Di hospital was built and a body of women Inr nursing. King Frederick William IV. of Prussia, and his Queen. Elizabeth, gave I their support, ami founded a Christian hospital with dcacones>es at I'.erlin. Mis last yeai spent, founding 'mother houses' in Europe, Amer ica, and the Mast, and he wore out his life in his work. Fliedner paid no attention to the great controversies that were disturbing the Get man Church, but gave his whole attention to well- directed efforts for the good of the | and suffering. The sterner features of hi- character were relieved by a humor that had full play in his intercourse with the children Of his schools. Consult Winkworth, Life of Pastor Fliedner of Kaiscrsuerth (trans., London, 1867). FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER, fle'gi n di hoi' len-der, Der (Ger., The Flying Dutchman). An opera composed and written by Wagner (1843). FLIES, Spanish. See Blister- Beetle. FLIGELY, He-gaTe, August von (1811-79). An Austrian soldier, born at Janow, Galicia. He was director of the Military Geographical ln-ti tute at Vienna from 1853 to 1872 and presidenl of the Austrian Geodetic Commission until 1875. His work in the department of triangulation, geodesy, and cartography was very important, and the Military Geographical Institute of Aus- tria owes its present fame to his influence and activity. The employment of heliogravure in the preparation of the new special atlases of Austria was due to his initiative. FLIGHT I AS. flyht, from fleogan, led. fljttga, OHG. ftiogan, Ger. fliegen, to fly). The power of progressing through the air by means of wings. It i- possessed by bats and birds among existing vertebrates, by the extinct pterodactyls, or fly- ing reptiles, and by a very large proportion of insects. No amphibian can fly, the nearest ap- proach to flight being found in a frog I Rhacopho- rus) of Borneo, in which the webbed feet arc so large as to serve the purpose of a parachute. That flying Sshes actually 'fly' has been asserted and denied with equal vigor: but very careful observers insist that the pectoral fins are active and not merely passive agents in sustaining tin- fish after it has sprung into the air. It is certain that if a flying fish is laid on the deck of a ves- sel the outstretched fins are often vibrated with great rapidity and considerable force.