The Nutt all 
Woodpecker _ __ _ _ 
always has a grouch on, 
and you are sure to be 
challenged as you pass, 
by a repetition of his 
double notes of distrust, 
ticket, ticket—ticket it. 
Besides these, he makes 
frequent use of a rat¬ 
tling, staccato cry which 
reverberates through the 
woods in defiance of all 
the decencies. This noisy 
publication is probably 
intended for home con¬ 
sumption, a keep-in¬ 
touch note, powerful 
enough to penetrate the 
mazes of the forest, 
whereby a distant part¬ 
ner is advised of pro¬ 
gressive movement. This 
call is almost invariably 
sounded, therefore, be¬ 
fore a bird quits a given 
locality. 
Exact rules may be 
drafted for Nuttall’s 
nesting from a single in¬ 
stance. Thus, its nest 
is always excavated in 
“a decayed part of the 
tree”—except when it 
elects to drill into the 
live heart-wood of an 
oak or a sycamore, as I 
have seen it do in Los 
Canoes Canyon. “It 
nests at moderate heights”—from 2 l A to 60 feet!—"in a willow tree”— 
also alder, elder, cottonwood, sycamore, live oak, maul oak, white oak, etc. 
The male Nuttall not only takes a lively interest in all matters connected 
with the nesting, but it is believed that he monopolizes the task of exca¬ 
vation. Certainly he takes his turn at incubating, and he is invariably, 
Taken in San Bernardino County 
Photo by Pierce 
A COMPLETE EXHIBIT 
EGGS AND FEMALE PARENT, NUTTALL WOODPECKER 
1002 
