THE GUADALUPE FLICKER. 141 



"< )[' nil tlif specie's of this family I luive over met with, iiouc Ikvvc been so 

 tame and unsuspicious or less frightened by the report of a gun. In January 

 I witnessed a peculiar habit not hefore noticed, I lielieve, in l)irds of this genus. 

 A pair of Flickers were perched facing each other u[)on a g-narled root about 3 

 feet from the g-round, their heads within a foot of each other. Suddenly the 

 male, who liad been sitting motionless before the female, l)egan a somewhat 

 grotesque performance, which consisted in a rapid bobljing of his head. In this 

 he was immediately followed by the female. This spasmodic l)obbing and 

 bowing they repeated alternately a few times, when both stojipeil as suddenly 

 as th("\- had commenced. After an interyal of a few seconds the male began 

 again, and was joined bv the female. Tlu^ movement resembled more an 

 upward jerk of the heail than a bow. 



"Approaching on my hands and knees to get a closer yiew, 1 could hear a, 

 low, chuckling sound while these strange actions were in progress. What tlie 

 outcome of this love-making — for such I regarded it — would lia\e l)een I did 

 not ascertain. The fear of losing the specimens — almost the first I had seen — 

 prompted me to lire. The first shot brought down the female. At the report 

 away Hew the male, followed by another male, which, unseen by me, had been 

 quite near, on the ground. They returned while I was still holding the female, 

 and thus gave me an opportunity of securing them both. Their eyident lack of 

 timidity permitted me to draw near enough to plainly distinguish the character- 

 istic Ijright red cheek })atclies. In Febi'uary I saw a repetition of the action 

 above noted, the birds being in a cypress tree above me. The\- were yevy 

 tame, especially the feuiale, who came quite near as I lay upon the gi'ound, 

 wliistling "quit-tu, (|uit-tu," and watching her puzzled actions. In a lialf-dead 

 c\press this pair had partially pecked a cayity for a nest. In addition to the 

 familiar scythe-whetting notes they have the peculiar "wake-up" call and its 

 rapid prelude of monosyllables. By imitating this call I decoyed a distant 

 female to within short range, the bird coming through the thickest of tlie 

 cypress grove, stopping at short intervals to call and listen for a reph'. 



"The food of this species during a ])ortion of the year consists largely of 

 smooth-skimied caterpillars, Ijesides inunerous beetles and ants; the latter are 

 always obtainable and, growing to a large size, figure as an important item of 

 their diet. The scarcity of decayed trees, -with the exception of fallen ones, 

 necessitates either work upon seasoned wood or the resort to dead p)alm stunq)s. 

 The nests will therefore be found at heights var^ang from 3 to 1 5 feet. 



"By ^larch l(j the birds were invariably found in pairs, and ni\- wish to 

 secure a setting of eggs before departing seemed in a fair way of being fulfilled. 

 Strolling auiong the cypress, on the 27th of March, I found four trees ujioii 

 which the birds were at work or had been recently, and in such cases the birds 

 themselves Avere always to be found in the immediate vicinity. Passing a half- 

 dead tree, I heard the sounding taps of a Woodpecker at work, and as I neared 

 the spot tlu^ slight noise which I made as 1 carefulh' picked my way over the 

 rock-strewn g-i-ound caused a handsome male l)ird to suddenly- appear at aii 



