THE GILDED FLICKEk 139 



wood forests which cover a large part of the peninsula between latitudes 28° 

 and 30°. Young- were found by me in June at San Fernando and near San 

 Carlos, Lower California." 



Mr. J. Xantus found the Gilded Flicker very common in the vicinity of 

 Cape St. Lucas, and quite a number of specimens now in the United States 

 National Museum collection were taken by him there; these average a trifle 

 smaller than the Arizona birds. 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott met with this species in the early spring and fall on the 

 San Pedro slope of the Catalina Mountains, in southern Arizona, as high up as 

 3,000 feet, and saw now and then single individuals in the mesquite timber, far- 

 away from any giant cactus. 1 



I first met with this Flicker in some large cottonwoods on Rillito Creek, 

 near Tucson, in the spring of 1872, and also found a pair nesting in a dead limb 

 of one of these trees, but the site was inaccessible. I at first considered these 

 birds rare, and not until the nesting season was over did I discover how abundant 

 they were in an extensive giant cactus grove in Sahuarita Pass, a few miles 

 northeast of my camp. Here numbers of them were feeding on the sweet, fig- 

 like fruit of this cactus, in company with other species, and, as many of the 

 cacti had holes dug in their sides, this was unquestionably a favorite breeding 

 place for them. I do not consider the Gilded Flicker a very shy bird in the late 

 summer and fall, and I could have shot numbers of them at different times had 

 I wanted to do so. I paid but little attention to this species when I first saw 

 it, taking it at the time to be the common eastern Flicker, from the similarity 

 of its appearance when flying, and only discovered my error on shooting one 

 on June 16, 1872. Its call notes, manner of flight, and general habits are so 

 similar to those of the common Flicker that one, particularly a novice, as I was 

 then, might readily make such a mistake. Its food consists mainly of insects 

 of different kinds and their larva?, as well as of wild berries and fruits, and it 

 obtains a good portion of this on the ground. 



By far the greater number of these birds nest in the sahuaras or giant 

 cactus; and where these are not found within reasonable distances, this species is 

 not apt to be met with, at least not during the breeding season. This is at its 

 height from the middle of April to the end of May, and, as Mr. F. Stephens has 

 taken its eggs in June, it is possible that two broods are occasionally raised in 

 a season. It nests at varying distances from the ground from 8 to 40 feet, 

 generally at heights of about 15 feet. 1 have the indurated form of a nesting- 

 cavity of this species now before me, showing its exact shape. The hardened 

 walls are about one-fourth of an inch thick, and show the inner contour of the 

 cavity perfectly. The entrance is nearly 3 inches in diameter; inside it is 

 about 7 by 4 inches wide and 5 J inches deep. The sides and bottom of the 

 cavity are quite smooth, considering the nature of the substance (the soft inner 

 pulp of the cactus) out of which it is excavated. It occupied only one-half of the 

 trunk of one of these giant cacti, and the rear of the cavity did not quite reach 



1 The Auk, Vol. V, 1886, p. 429. 



