156 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
come hurrying up and make a dive at him, causing a retreat to the other table. 
Frequently the new-comer would then follow and drive him from the second 
table. He seemingly would rather fight than eat if another one was eating 
at the same time. One day I saw him, or her, I forget which, hanging to the 
edge of the table busily eating steak, when another one perched on the table 
and made a vicious stab at him. He dodged backward clear under the table, 
though retaining his hold, and then bobbed up again, just like the Punch and 
Judy show. The attack was 
renewed, and the dodging as 
well, but this time he did not 
“come back’’. Another day 
one of them was at work on a 
piece of melon when one of 
his fellows came and perched 
on the end of the table. The 
diner made a pass at the new 
comer, and seizing him by 
the feathers of the neck held 
him suspended oi'er the end 
of the table for a few sec- 
onds. 
Nesting sites in this local- 
ity are restricted to giant 
cactus ( Cereus giganteus), 
cottonwood and willow, as 
they are the only suitable 
material for a nest excava- 
tion. More nests are found 
in the giant cactus, as these 
plants are more numerous 
than the others, and more 
“peckable”, though the wil- 
lows and cottonwoods along 
the river and the canals are 
well patronized when suffi- 
ciently decayed. Of the nests 
I examined I should say that 
fifty per cent were in the cac- 
tus, and the rest equally di- 
vided between the other trees 
mentioned. I say examined, 
advisedly as I saw many holes 
in the giant cactus that I did 
not climb to. My ladder was only fourteen feet long and while I have “shinned 
up” a cactus several feet beyond the end of my ladder it was done only on 
special occasions. Life is too short and time too precious to spend any great 
portion of it digging thorns from the flesh. 
As to the size of the holes in the cactus as compared with those in cotton- 
wood and willow, 1 found no appreciable difference. I expected the holes in 
the cactus to average a little larger owing to possible greater ease in excavat- 
Fig. 56. Nest and Set oe Five Eggs of Gila 
Woodpecker, in Saguaro, or Giant Cactus. 
A PORTION OF THE TRUNK HAS' BEEN CUT 
AWAY SO AS TO SHOW A VERTICAL SECTION OF 
THE NEST CAVITY. 
