206 
WOODPECKERS 
a sycamore and then stretch up on a branch and call out triumph¬ 
antly. Two Nuttalls trying to decide whether to fight are an 
amusing sight. They shake their feathers and scold and dance 
about as if they were aching to fly at each other, but couldn’t 
quite make up their minds to so grave a matter. 
398. Dryobates arizonae ( Hargitt ). Arizona Woodpecker. 
Adult male. — Upper parts plain brown, except for red nape bordered by 
conspicuous white patches, white spotting on wing quills, and white bar¬ 
ring on outer tail feathers ; under parts, including under tail coverts heav¬ 
ily spotted with brown. Adult female: similar, but without red on head. 
Young: like adults of respective sexes, but top of head brown like back, 
and spotted with red. Length: 7.40-8.40, wing 4.40-4.65, tail 2.55-2.95, 
exposed culmen .90-1.05. 
Distribution. — Resident in Upper Sonoran zone, from the mountains of 
southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona south to northwestern 
Mexico. 
Nest. — 10 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 or 4, white. 
‘ ‘ This rare woodpecker is a common species on the foothills of 
the Chiricahua Mountains, where it was one of the first birds that 
met my eye when the section where it abounds was first entered. . . . 
So far as I could ascertain, at this season at least, it is confined to 
the region of the oaks, ranging from about 4000 to 7000 feet, thus 
inhabiting a region about midway between the low valleys and the 
mountain districts proper. Here they appeared to be perfectly at 
home, climbing over the trunks of the oaks with the same ease and 
rapidity of movement that distinguish the motions of the downy or 
hairy woodpecker ; though their habits, in so far as they are at all 
peculiar, are, perhaps, best comparable to those of the red-cockaded 
woodpecker of the south {Dryobates borealis), especially their custom 
of moving about in small companies of from five to fifteen, though 
they were occasionally found singly or in pairs. 
“ When in pursuit of food, they almost always alighted near the 
base of the trees, gradually ascending, and making their way along the 
smaller limbs and even out among the foliage, appearing to prefer 
to secure their food by a careful search than by the hard labor of 
cutting into the wood in the way the hairy woodpecker employs its 
strength. ... I found them at all times rather shy, and gifted with 
very little of that prying curiosity which is seen in some of the 
better known species of this family; and if by chance I surprised a 
band feeding among the low trees, a sharp warning note, from some 
member more watchful than the rest, communicated alarm to the 
whole assembly, when they took flight immediately, showing great 
dexterity in dodging behind trunks and limbs, and making good 
their retreat by short flights from one tree to another till they were 
out of sight.” (Ilenshaw.) 
