GILA WOODPECKER 255 



I have often seen the Gila woodpeckers tear the galls loose from the twigs 

 and, flying to a fence post, proceed to chisel out the contents. The hard gall 

 is wedged into a crack on the post and then opened by repeated hammering. 

 Around the base of one fence post I counted nearly 300 empty shells. Some- 

 times cracks in nearby trees are used. At one time five of these woodpeckers 

 were seen in a single tree, all of them feeding on the galls. 



Behavior. — The Gila woodpecker is not only the most abundant 

 woodpecker, in fact one of the most abundant birds, in the region it 

 inhabits, but it is more conspicuous, noisier, and more active than 

 any of its neighbors. It is always much in evidence, always protest- 

 ing the intrusion of a stranger, and shows the greatest concern when 

 its nest is approached, especially if it has young. It is a close sitter 

 and will often remain in the nest hole to peck viciously at an investi- 

 gating hand; while the nest is being robbed, it flits nervously about, 

 scolding vociferously with all the vile epithets it can muster. As to 

 its behavior with other species, Mr. Gilman (1915) writes: 



This woodpecker has not the best disposition in the world, for he is very 

 quarrelsome and intolerant. He fights his own kin and all the neighbors that 

 he dares. He, or she, is a great bluffer however and when "called", frequently 

 side-steps, subsides, or backs out entirely. I saw one approach a Bendire 

 Thrasher that was eating, and suddenly pounce on him. He had the thrasher 

 down and I was thinking of offering my friendly services as a board of arbi- 

 tration, when the under bird crawled from beneath and soon gave the wood- 

 pecker the thrashing of his career. Several times I have seen the woodpeckers 

 start to attack Bendire and Palmer thrashers, but they were always bluffed 

 or beaten at the game. With the Bronzed Cowbirds it is a drawn battle, some- 

 times one and then the other backing down. Most other birds, such as Cardi- 

 nals, Abert Towhees, Dwarf Cowbirds and Cactus Wrens do not attempt to 

 assert their rights, but always take a rear seat. But when it is woodpecker 

 versus woodpecker it seems not to be a case of "Thrice armed is he who hath 

 his quarrel just", but rather, "Four times he who gets his blow in fust". 



I had two bird tables about twenty feet apart, and frequently one wood- 

 pecker might be peacefully assimilating watermelon, when another one would 

 come hurrying up and make a dive at him, causing a retreat to the other table. 

 Frequently the new-comer would then follow and drive him from the second 

 table. He seemingly would rather fight than eat if another was eating at 

 the same time. One day I saw him, or her, I forget which, hanging to the edge 

 of the table busily eating steak, when another one perched on the table and 

 made a vicious stab at him. He dodged backward clear under the table, though 

 retaining his hold, and then bobbed up again, just like the Punch and Judy show. 

 The attack was renewed, and the dodging as well, but this time he did not 

 "come back". Another day one of them was at work on a piece of melon when 

 one of his fellows came and perched on the end of the table. The diner made 

 a pass at the new comer, and seizing him by the feathers of the neck held 

 him suspended over the end of the table for a few seconds. 



Voice. — Major Bendire (1895) says: "Its ordinary call note, sound- 

 ing like 'dchiirr, dchiirr,' can be heard in all directions in the spring; 

 when flying from one point to another it usually utters a sharp, shrill 

 'liuit' two or three times, resembling the common call note of the 

 Phainopepla, and which may readily be mistaken for it. It is also 



