THE golden-fko:nted woodpecker. 125 



on the lower Eio Grande: "The Golden-fronted Woodpecker is a common 

 resident species in this locality, and much more abundant than Bairds' Wood- 

 pecker, the only other variety that I have found here. They may he found 

 wherever there is a growth of trees sufficiently large to afford nesting places, but 

 are most numerous in the river bottoms where there is a heavy growth of old 

 mesquite timber. During the fall and winter they may be found traveling about 

 from place to place in.pairs, and are easily located by the call note, which some- 

 what resembles that of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, the habits of the two birds 

 being in many respects quite similar. In the spring', when nesting, thev become 

 very nois}-, and ^hen approached, utter their alarm note with great vigor. I 

 have never known this species to drum on a dead limb, as most of the other 

 Woodpeckers do. When searching for food they may he seen very diligentlv 

 at work near the base of old trees, among the thick bushes, or even on the 

 ground. The nest is l)y preference made in the live trunks of large trees, 

 usually the mesquite, but sometimes, in a dead stump or liml), the same cavity 

 being used year after year, and it is quite a rare thing to see a fresh excavation. 

 The nesting- season begins in April, and most of the nests contain fresh eggs by 

 May 10. I took a set of six eggs from a cavity in a live mesquite tree, the 

 opening being but 2 feet 9 inches from the ground, but usually they are placed 

 from 8 to 20 feet up. Although the birds are not notably shy, yet it is my 

 experience that tliey leave the nest when approached, and it is a hard matter 

 to find the bird in the excavation. If the nest is molested, the birds return and 

 vigorously pi'otest." 



Mr. H. P. Attwater writes me: "The nearest ^^oint where these birds nest 

 in the vicinity of Rockport, on the Gulf coast, is in the mesquite region, from 

 15 to 20 miles north of this place. Here their favorite nesting sites are in 

 telegraph poles, and there are few that are without Woodpecker holes, as they 

 appear to make new ones every year. Near San Antonio, Texas, where the 

 Golden-fronted Woodpecker is a common resident, it nests in all kinds of tall 

 live timber, pecan, oak, and large mesquite trees being preferred, but telegraph 

 poles furni.shed favorite sites here also. A line running out of San Antonio 

 to a ranch nine miles distant was almost destroyed 1)y these birds; they came 

 from all sides, from far and near, and made fresh holes every year, sometimes 

 as many as five or six in a single pole. Here it also nests occasionally in 

 artificial nesting sites, like bird boxes, etc., in yards and gardens." 



I have read the following statement in a newspaper, said to have been made 

 by a prominent official of one of the transcontinental telegraph lines, of which 

 I quote only a portion: 



"Woodpeckers are attracted to telegraph poles by the humming noise of 

 the wires, caused by the hitter's vibration in the wind, they believing tliat the 

 noise is made by insects boring in tlie poles, and these birds accordinglv lost 

 much time and energy in knocking against the poles with their bills in order to 

 drive the supposed insects to the surface, where the latter would be readily 

 captured if they were only there to come out." 



