July, 1915 
NOTES ON SOME BIRDS OF SPRING CANYON, COLORADO 
151 
Dendroica aestiva aestiva. Yellow Warbler. One of the common warblers. Ar- 
rives May 8; breeds (June 1). 
Dendroica auduboni auduboni. Audubon Warbler. The commonest warbler during 
migration. Arrives April 17. 
Seiurus noveboracensis notabilis. Grinnell Water-thrush. One specimen in the 
college museum, taken in the canyon. 
Oporornis tolmiei. Macgillivray Warbler. One of the common warblers of the can- 
yon. We have no record of its breeding. 
Geothlypis trichas occidentalis. Western Yellow-throat. Abundant. 
Icteria virens longicauda. Long-tailed Chat. Not uncommon. We have no data on 
its spring arrival. Berry found it nesting, but failed to record the date. 
Wilsonia pusilla pileolata. Pileolated Warbler. Common in migration. 
Setophaga ruticilla. Redstart. Not uncommon. 
Mimus polyglottos leucopterus. Western Mockingbird. Not uncommon; arrives 
May 9. No doubt breeds, but we have no record of It. 
Dumetella carolinensis. Catbird. Common. Arrives May 13; breeds (June 22). 
Toxostoma rufum. Brown Thrasher. Common. Arrives May 13; breeds (June 19). 
Salpinctes obsoletus obsoietus. Rock Wren. Common on the rocky walls of the 
canyon. A full set of eggs was taken from a hole in a sandstone ledge, June 7. 
Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola. Willow Thrush. Rare. Only one record, a mounted 
specimen in the college museum, taken at the canyon in 1902. 
Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni. Olive-backed Thrush. Common in migration. 
Planesticus migratorius propinquus. Western Robin. Common. Arrives March 5; 
breeds (May 28). 
Sialia currucoides. Mountain Bluebird. Arrives February 25; breeds (June 16). 
Colorado Agricultural College, May 1, 1915. 
WOODPECKERS OF THE ARIZONA LOWLANDS 
By M. FRENCH GILMAN 
WITH TEN PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR 
T HE TERRITORY covered by these notes is a strip of country about thi'ee 
miles wide, on each side of the Gila River, extending from Blaekwater at 
the east, to Casa Blanca and Snaketown on the west. Except for species 
peculiarly adapted to life on the desert, the country is anything but a wood- 
pecker’s paradise. Mesquite and ironwood, comprising the bulk of the timber, 
probably make hard peeking, and except along the river bottoms there is not 
much growth suitable for the birds. Of the eight species of woodpeckers to be 
mentioned, only two can be called abundant, but these two make up for the 
lack of numbers of the others. 
The Cactus Woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris cactophilus) may be seen in 
limited numbers at all times of the year. It is seemingly at home in any loca- 
tion, in the open country working on the various species of cactus {Opuntia) ; 
in dense mesquite and screw-bean thickets ; or in cottonwood and willow 
groves. The nest holes are made in any suitable tree or shrub, and average 
about 1.55 inches in diameter, with depth of six to eight inches. I have seen 
the nests in mesquite, screw-bean, ironwood, cottonwood, willow, palo verde, 
and cholla cactus {Opuntia fulgida). They may nest in the giant cactus also, 
but I have never found them there. The height of the nest varies from two 
feet to twenty or more, and the holes are excavated in dead or dying wood, 
though occasionally part of the hole may extend into green wood. 
