Natural History Notes of Southern A rizona. 1 1 



molested. I identified the Band-tailed Pigeon, White- 

 \vinj:;ed Dove, Carolina Dove, Arizona Plumed Quail, Hooded 

 Oriole, Arizona Cardinal (whose flaming livery of scarlet 

 outshone the form we have in Ohio), Texas Cardinal, 

 Mocking Bird, Red-shafted Flicker, Arizona Jay, Canyon 

 Towhee, Crissel Thrasher, Painted Red Start, Crimson 

 Flycatcher, Mountain Mocking Bird, Rufous-backed Hum- 

 ming Bird, and a much larger species that I identified as 

 Eugenes fiilgens — only one seen. At evening, some croaking 

 Ravens ca'me into the live oaks to roost, and after dark, 

 while I was at work catching insects, I heard the curious 

 cry of some Pygmy Owls overhead, although none were seen. 

 The Herpetologist can find some interesting reptiles in 

 these inountains. The Gila Monster, Heloderma suspectum, 

 lives on the mesa and foothills, and is not often seen. July 

 25, we caught one near the ranch house. It was out on an 

 open sandy spot. On being approached, it oj^ened its 

 mouth and repeatedly darted out its tongue, hissing loudly. 

 There is a legend that its breath is noxious and deadly, but 

 I brought my face close to it, without any ill effect, so con- 

 cluded this to be a myth. The ranchman told me to kill it, 

 as it was a great robber of ground-nesting birds, eating their 

 eggs. Several hard blows on the head, that would have 

 killed any ordinary animal, only stunned it. Though I 

 supposed it was dead when I left it, expecting to get it later, 

 I found it had revived and made off. The tenacity of life 

 is very great in these reptiles. I am just in receipt of a 

 letter from the ranchman, describing a fight between one 

 of these Helodermas and a rattlesnake, the two having been 

 put in a pit from which they could not escape. "The snake 

 struck the monster fairly, drawing blood. Then the monster 

 got hold of the snake and hung on until the snake was 

 dead. The monster was not harmed." McCleary asks is 

 it known that the Gila Monster is immune to the poison of 

 Rattlesnakes' Aside from Heloderma's habit of feeding on 

 the eggs of ground-nesting birds, I can see no reason for 

 destroying them, as they are certainly the most curious and 



