128 LIFE HISTORIES OP NOETH AMEEICAN BIEDS. 



eggs in a freshly excavated hole in a growing willow on May 4, 1886, opposite 

 Yuma, on the California side of the Colorado River." 



I first met with the Gila Woodpecker during the winter of 1871-72 in 

 the vicinity of my camp on the Santa Cruz River, a few miles south of Tucson, 

 and subsequently found it to be a common breeder at my permanent camp on 

 Rillito Creek, some seven miles from Tucson. Its general habits resemble those 

 of the Californian Woodpecker in many respects. Like it, it is a rather noisy 

 bird; its ordinary call note, sounding like "dchiirr, dchiirr," can be heard in all 

 directions in the spring; when flying from one point to another it usually utters 

 a sharp, shrill "huit" two or three times, resembling the common call note of 

 the Phainopepla, and which may readily be mistaken for it. It is also more 

 or less addicted to drumming on the dead tops of cottonwood, sycamore, and 

 mesquite trees. Its flight, like that of most Woodpeckers, is undulating, rather 

 swift, and, on the whole, I consider it a more or less suspicious and shy bird. 

 In southern Arizona at least, it seems to be equally partial to the well-timbered 

 bottom lands and mountain canyons as well as to the giant cactus groves in the 

 more arid foothill regions. 



Its food consists of insects of various kinds, such as ants, beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, and larvae, and in season largely on the sweet, fig-like fruit of the 

 sahuaras, the giant cactus, and also, to a considerable extent, on the viscous 

 berries of a species of mistletoe which is commonly found on most of the larger 

 cottonwoods, oaks, and mesquite trees in these regions. These sticky, whitish- 

 looking berries are a favorite food of many Arizona birds. While the majority 

 of the Gila Woodpeckers in southern Arizona nest probably in sahuaras, quite 

 a number breed also in the larger cottonwoods, sycamores, and mesquite trees, 

 generally, however, either in inaccessible situations in dead limbs which can 

 not be trusted, or in the live mesquite trees, in which the entrance can only be 

 enlarged with a great deal of labor. I know no native tree whose wood is 

 harder than this. 



According to my observations, nidification in southern Arizona begins about 

 the latter part of April, and full sets of fresh eggs may be looked for during 

 the last two weeks in May. I found my first set of four eggs on Rillito Creek, 

 on May 23, 1872. The nesting site was excavated in a limb of a large cotton- 

 wood tree, on the under side, and about 20 feet from the ground. The cavity 

 was 18 ijiches deep and 4 inches wide at the bottom; the entrance hole was 

 perfectly circular and only 2 inches in diameter. The limb was partly dead, 

 and the nesting site was located in this, a few chips being left in the bottom 

 of the hole, on which the eggs were deposited. Both birds were on hand and 

 very uneasy while I was rifling the nest, uttering notes of protest from a limb 

 overhead. As soon as I descended the tree they examined their despoiled 

 home in turn, and were evidently much surprised to find their eggs gone. On 

 May 28, 1872, I found a second nest, also containing four eggs, in a sahuara, 

 about 20 feet from the ground. It caused me fully two hours of hard work, 

 with two men assisting me, to get these, by planting a pole alongside and about 



