The Nuttall Woodpecker 
first, which is ail inclu¬ 
sive. Within Upper So¬ 
noran limits it is, per¬ 
haps, easier to tell where 
he will not be found; thus, 
not (or only occasion¬ 
ally) in pine timber; not 
in stands of pure willow 
(which are given over to 
D. pubescens turati ); not 
in orchards, nor about 
cultures of any sort; not, 
most decidedly, “nesting 
in giant cactus.” (One 
may be very sure that 
Xantus’s classical in¬ 
stance, oft quoted, con¬ 
cerned itself with D. 
scalaris, instead of D. 
nuttatti.) Least of all, 
is it “seldom found along 
streams,” as one pre¬ 
cocious authorityi avers. 
A narrow' canyon v'hose 
floor harbors sycamores 
and alders and bay trees, 
nourished by a purling 
stream, and w-hose sides 
are lined with live oaks 
which run up into ceano- 
thus chaparral, is pre¬ 
cisely the best place to 
look for D. nuttalli. 
D. nuttalli is an irri¬ 
table, not to say noisy, 
beastie; and it is ten to 
one you hear him titter¬ 
ing apprehensively from 
the depths of the chap¬ 
arral before you see him emerge to fly over the tops of the cover. The 
Xuttall Woodpecker, as a good friend in the Cooper Club declares, 
1 “ Birds of California,” by Irene Grosvenor Wheelock, p. 365. This widely circulated product of a Chicago pen 
exhibits throughout its cheery pages the valor of ignorance. 
Taken in San Diego County 
Photo by Donald R. Dickey 
YOUNG NUTTALL WOODPECKERS 
1001 
