50 BIRDS OF THE PAPAGO SAGUAKO NATIONAL MONUMENT. 



was in the same way that he broke some horned owls of dining on the same 

 brand of hens. Water seems to be the least of their worries ; perhaps it is 

 supplied by the giant cactus they peck into so freely. 



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 " fre- 

 quently sidesteps, 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 arbitration, when the under bird crawled from beneath and soon gave the 

 woodpecker the thrashing of his career. Several times I have seen the wood- 

 peckers 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, sometimes one and then the other backing down. Most other birds, 

 such as cardinals, Abert towhees, dwarf cowbirds, and cactus wrens, do not 

 attempt to assert their rights, but always take a rear seat. When it is wood- 

 pecker 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 20 feet apart, and frequently one woodpecker 

 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 newcomer would then follow and drive him from the second 

 table. He seemingly would rather fight than eat if another one 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 newcomer, and seizing him by the feathers of 

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



Nesting sites in this locality are restricted to giant cactus (Cereus gigan- 

 teus), cottonwood, and willow, as they are the only suitable material for a 

 nest excavation. More nests are found in the giant cactus, as these plants are 

 more numerous than the others and more "peckable," though the willows 

 and cottonwoods along the river and the canals are well patronized when 

 sufficiently decayed. Of the nests I examined I should say that 50 per 

 cent were in the cactus and the rest equally divided between the other trees 

 mentioned. * * * 



Usually the nest hole runs straight in for a short distance before turning 

 downward, the distance seemingly depending on the texture of the wood. * * * 

 The depth horizontally is usually about 3 inches. In the giant cactus it 

 varies according to the diameter of the trunk, the smaller the trunk the less 

 distance before turning downward. The softness of the material is not a factor, 

 as it is the same in small and large trunks. In only two cases have I found 

 nest holes that penetrated through the ribs of the cactus into the inner pith. 

 In both cases the trunk was too small to furnish room for the nest between 

 the outside and the ribs. The holes are dug in the soft pulp of the cactus, and 

 the raw surface becomes calloused, as it were, forming a tough woody lining to 

 the hole, which persists when the rest of the pulp decays. In this way the 

 nest holes may be found intact, the hole being outlined by the hardened pulp, 

 while the surrounding pulpy tissues have entirely decayed. * * * 



