158 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
ing pulpy tissues have entirely decayed. An example of this is shown in the 
accompanying illustration (see fig. 57). 
The nests were placed at different heights, those in the giant cactus rang- 
ing from fourteen feet to the limit of the plant, about thirty-five feet. As my 
ladder was only fourteen feet long the nests higher than twenty feet were 
inaccessible, except in the special cases already mentioned. Many of the rf^sts 
seen were more than twenty feet from the ground, and as a rule the Gila 
Woodpecker seemed to place the nests higher in the cactus than did the Gilded 
Flicker. They appear to select large plants, and to patronize the same one for 
several years, as many unoccupied holes may be seen in it. Unoccupied, that is, 
as far as the woodpecker is concerned for the old holes are often used by other 
birds. I have never found two of these woodpeckers occupying the same tree, 
but frequently a Gilded Flicker, Elf Owl, and Ash-throated Flycatcher might 
be next door neighbors, and all housed under the same roof, as it were. In cot- 
tonwoods and willows there could not be so much choice as to height, for the 
site was decided by the location of soft or decayed wood, and sometimes the 
nest would be closer to the ground. In some stumps 1 have found the nests 
only five feet from the ground, in other cases as high as thirty feet or more. 
The same nest hole is used more than one season, both in cactus and other 
locations. In 1913 I found a nest in a big cottonwood stump containing young. 
The next year it had young again, and I cut into it to measure the hole and 
count them. The entrance was on the slanting under side of the tree. This 
was the beforementioned hole that went in nine inches before turning down- 
ward, and it was quite a task to get at the bottom of the sixteen inch hole by 
enlarging the two inch entrance. 
The height of the nesting season is evidently from the middle of April 
to the middle of May. Of thirteen occupied nests examined, twelve were found 
in May, eight of them containing young. May 10 was the latest date that eggs 
were found. July 10 1 found three young about half grown, which might indi- 
cate that a second brood was sometimes raised. The number of eggs to a set 
is from three to five, with the odds on three. Seven of the thirteen nests con- 
tained three eggs or three young. The number of young in a nest, however, 
is not a sure indication of the number of eggs laid, as often some of them 
fail to hatch. Two sets of five eggs each were found, and two of three. Five 
nests had three young each, and one had four young; one nest had three young 
and two eggs ; another three young and one egg ; while another had one young. 
The average number to the nest, including eggs and young, was 3.46 but I be- 
lieve a census taken early enough to count the eggs before they hatched would 
show a larger average. 
It is not easy to determine just what food the young in the nest are given, 
but insects play a prominent part, as I have seen them frequently carried to 
the young. Fruit is also used, as I watched one parent carry ripe Lycium 
berries several times to the nest ; after emerging from the hole she would halt 
at the entrance each time and “lick her chops”. 
The old birds show much concern when the nest is approached, and re- 
monstrate most volubly; if the young are handled and caused to cry, the old 
ones use terrible language. The birds are not very close sitters as a rule, but 
I cut into one nest without seeing any owner around and found her on the nest 
with three young just hatched and one egg pipped. She was not sick or stupid 
either, judging from the noise she made and the fight she put up, but was 
