206 WOODPECKERS 



a sycamore and then stretch up on a branch and call out triumph- 

 antly. Two Nuttalls trying to decide whether to fight are an 

 amusing sight. They shake their feathers and scold and dance 

 about as if they were aching to fly at each other, but couldn't 

 quite make up their minds to so grave a matter. 



398. Dryobates arizonse {Hargitt). Arizona Woodpecker. 



Adult male. — Upper parts phiin brown, except for red nape bordered by 

 conspicuous white patches, white spotting- on wing- quills, and white bar- 

 ring- on outer tail feathers ; under parts, including under tail coverts heav- 

 ily spotted with brown. Adult female : similar, but Avithout red on head. 

 Young : like adults of respective sexes, but top of head brown like back, 

 and spotted with red. Length : 7.40-8.40, wing- 4.40-4.65, tail 2.55-2.95, 

 exposed culmen .90-1.05. 



Distribution. — Resident in Upper Sonoran zone, from the mountains of 

 southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona south to northwestern 

 Mexico. 



Nest. — 10 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs : 3 or 4, white. 



" This rare woodpecker is a common species on the foothills of 

 the Chiricahua Mountains, where it was one of the first birds that 

 met my eye when the section where it abounds was first entered. . . . 

 So far as I could ascertain, at this season at least, it is confined to 

 the region of the oaks, ranging from about 4000 to 7000 feet, thus 

 inhabiting a region about midway betw^een the low valleys and the 

 mountain districts proper. Here they appeared to be perfectly at 

 home, climbing over the trunks of the oaks with the same ease and 

 rapidity of movement that distinguish the motions of the downy or 

 hairy woodpecker : though their habits, in so far as they are at all 

 peculiar, are, perhaps, best comparable to those of the red-cockaded 

 woodpecker of the south {Dryobates borealis), especially their custom 

 of moving about in small companies of from five to fifteen, though 

 they were occasionally found singly or in pairs. 



" When in pursuit of food, they almost alw^ays alighted near the 

 base of the trees, gradually ascending, and making their way along the 

 smaller limbs and even out among the foliage, appearing to prefer 

 to secure their food by a careful search than by the hard labor of 

 cutting into the wood in the way the hairy woodpecker employs its 

 strength. ... I found them at all times rather shj^ and gifted with 

 very little of that prying curiosity which is seen in some of the 

 better known species of this family ; and if by chance I surprised a 

 band feeding among the low trees, a sharp warning note, from some 

 member more w^atchful than the rest, communicated alarm to the 

 whole assembly, when they took flight immediately, showing great 

 dexterity in dodging behind trunks and limbs, and making good 

 their retreat by short flights from one tree to another till they "were 

 out of sight.'' (Henshaw.) 



