24 BIRDS OF THE PAPAGO SAGTJARO NATIONAL MONUMENT. 



Of the four species of woodpeckers that breed in these mountains, 

 the white-breasted woodpecker should be looked for mostly in the 

 pine timber, the Batchelder woodpecker in the maples and alders 

 along the streams, and the red-shafted flicker almost anywhere, 

 though it is not an abundant species. The Mearns woodpecker will 

 reveal itself without any special search. The noisy chatter of this 

 species is heard on all sides, while the birds themselves, in showy 

 red, black, and white plumage, are conspicuous through their manner 

 of repeatedly making short sallies from the trees in pursuit of 

 passing insects. They are not especially shy, but when closely 

 approached have a clown-like habit of dodging behind a tree trunk, 

 where they play hide and seek with bobbing head and chattering 

 tongue. Their white eyes add much to the oddity of their appearance. 



On the evening of July 1 a Stephens whippoorwill was heard call- 

 ing, indicating what is probably the northern limit of the species 

 in Arizona. In the more southern mountain ranges of the State 

 it is a common summer visitant. 



There are several interesting flycatchers in the higher mountains. 

 The Cassin kingbird is one of the most common, replacing the west- 

 ern kingbird of the lower valleys, which it so closely resembles in 

 appearance. The Coues flycatcher, a summer visitor from Mexico, 

 which is here at about the northern limit of his range, is less con- 

 spicuous and far less numerous. The Mexicans call this bird Jose 

 Maria (Ho-say Mar-i-a), a very good rendition of the call note. 

 The Coues flycatcher is, in appearance and habits, very much like 

 his near relative, the olive-sided flycatcher, a much more familiar 

 object to most North American bird students, and, like the olive- 

 sided, should be looked for high in the tree tops, usually at the tip 

 of a dead limb or on some tall dead pine stub. 



In the narrow, dark canyons, where densely growing fir trees 

 shade the streams beneath, may be heard the sharp " pee- whit " of 

 the western flycatcher a note that is heard far more often than 

 the birds themselves are seen. 



In the mountain ranges of Arizona the jays are always a con- 

 spicuous feature of bird life, with^au^abundance of individuals, and 

 including several species of notable interest from peculiarities of ap- 

 pearance or of habits. The Arizona jay )is, perhaps, the noisiest 

 member of a sufficiently garrulous family/ habitually shrieking his 

 disapproval of events and inoividals7iraveling in companies of 



25 or 30 in order to give added force to his objections, and going far 

 out of his way to find trouble that otherwise would not come to him. 

 The long-crested jay is less conspicuous and less abundant. The two 

 species occur together in the Sierra Ancha at about 6,000 feet; on 

 the higher peaks I saw the long-crested, but not the Arizona. 



