WOODPECKERS 



163 



he replied, with equal seriousness and profundity, 

 that since the bird hves in a country which grows 

 httle wood, there is httle wood to peck, but from 

 the fact that it pecks the nearest substitute for 

 wood tliat is availalile we are justified in con- 

 ckiding that it Wduld ])eck wood if it could, and 

 therefore, is at heart a Woodpecker. At any 

 rate, the habit has real signiticance in so far as 

 it bespeaks the persistence of instinct operating 

 through native adaptability, which may be con- 

 sidered a form of intelligence. 



It is, of course, comparatively easy for the 

 Gila to make a way through the fiber of the 

 cactus. The ]iith is cut away to the proper 

 depth, and a chamber of suitable dimensions is 

 hollowed out. In the operation the bird's plum- 

 age becomes more or less daubed with saji, but 

 that doesn't seem to bother him. At the entrance 

 ;ind inside the cavity the fluid soon hardens, and 

 the i)assage-way and chamber become as dry as 

 if they were cut out of solid wood. In the region 

 inhabited by these birds, many, if not most, of 

 the giant cactus stems show one or even several 

 of these nesting holes. 



The other habits of the Gila \\'oodpccker are 

 similar to those of the Ant-eating species, with 

 the important exception that it does not seem to 

 practice hoarding food. It feeds largely on in- 

 sects, captured in foliage or on the wing, which 

 diet is varied by mistletoe and other berries. It 

 is often seen feeding on the ground in cornfields. 



In the report of Mr. F. E. L. Beal, of the 

 Ignited .States Biological .Survey, on the food of 

 Woodpeckers he says that but one stomach of 



the Gila Woodpecker had been examined and 

 this was largely filled with beetles of the May- 

 beetle family with a few bones of a lizard. The 

 vegetable part was refuse. 



t'hoto by W. L. Finley and H. 1'. liohlman 

 GILA WOODPECKER 

 The giant cactus is its favorite iiome 



FLICKER 

 Colaptes auratus auratus {Liiuurtis) 



A. O. U. Number 412 See Color Plate 64 



Other Names. — Yellow-shafted Woodpecker : Golden- 

 wiiiKcd Woodpecker ; Clape ; Pigeon Woodpecker ; 

 'S'elldw-liammer ; High-hole; High-holder; Yarrup ; 

 Wake-up ; Wood-pigeon ; Heigh-ho ; Wick-up ; Hairy 

 Wicket ; Yawker Bird ; Walk-up. 



General Description. — Length. 11 inches. Upper 

 parts, grayish-brown, barred with black; under parts, 

 lilac-brown, black, and yellowish. 



Color. — .Adult M.^^le: Crown and hindneck. plain 



gray interrupted by a crescentic band of bright scarlet, 



the forehead usually more brownish ; back, shoulders, 



wing-coverts, and secondaries grayish-brown, sharply 



Vol. II — 12 



barred with black, the black bars much narrower than 

 the brown interspaces (except, sometimes, on second- 

 aries) and pointed at the extremities, except on second- 

 aries, where much broader than elsewhere ; primaries, 

 dull black and spotted, at least on middle portion, with 

 light grayish-brown or dull pale yellowish (these spots 

 usually rather indistinct), their shafts bright clear 

 yellow ; rump, white, mostly immaculate but laterally 

 broken by broad brace-shaped bars of black; upper tail- 

 coverts, white, variously marked (usually transversely) 

 with black; tail, black, the middle pair of feathers duller 

 or more olivaceous basally. usually edged, narrowly, 



