mm 
382 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Food. —Insects of various kinds, as ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and larvae, and 
also mistletoe berries and the fruit of the giant cactus. 
General Habits. —In southern Arizona at least, Major Bendire 
says, the drab-headed Gila Woodpecker seems “equally partial to the 
well-timbered bottom lands and mountain canyons as well as to the 
ngvGArr 
Sc»l* at Mile* 
0 i0 . ?o 30 40 w 
_I 
NEW MEXICO 
Map 15. Gila Woodpecker 
Shaded areas show general range. Triangles mark breeding and other records 
giant cactus groves in the more arid foothill regions” (1895, p. 128). 
When building in the giant cactus, Doctor Heermann notes, “the pith 
of the plant is extracted until a chamber of suitable size is obtained, 
when the juice exuding from the wounded surface hardens and forms a 
smooth dry coating to the cavity, thus making a convenient place for 
the purposes of incubation” (1859, p. 17). 
