410 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
he spent in Arizona, he had a list of pairs of the Ladder-backed along 
the San Pedro River whose nests he could generally count on finding in 
certain definite situations. One pair, he says, “never dug its nest lower 
than twenty feet from the ground and usually selected a site that over¬ 
hung the water. Another liked short stubs not over five or six feet tall. 
Another was partial to fence posts” (1918, p. 169)/ 
Additional Literature.—Gilman, M. F., Condor, XVIT, 151-152, 1915. 
ARIZONA WOODPECKER: Dryobates ariz6nae ariz6nae (Hargitt) 
Plate 38 
Description. — Length: 7.4-8.4 inches, wing 4.4-4.6, tail 2.5-2.9, bill .9-1. 
Adult male: Up per parts plain brown except for red nuchal crescent, barring on outer 
tail feathers, white spots on wing quills, and white bands on side of head; under¬ 
parts white , thickly spotted with dusky. Adult female: Similar, but without red on 
nape, and with some white barring on middle of back. Young: Like adults of the 
respective sexes, but top of head brown, spotted with red. 
Range. —Apparently resident in Upper Sonoran Zone in mountains from 
southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south through Sierra Madre 
to Zacatecas. 
State Records. —The brown Arizona Woodpecker enters New Mexico only 
in the extreme southwestern part, where one was taken July 30, 1908, at 6,000 
feet in the Animas Mountains (Goldman); one July 17, 1892, in the San Luis 
Mountains (Mearns); [one taken and several seen, June 23, 1926, in Cottonwood 
Canyon, west of Cloverdale, Hidalgo Cdunty (Ligon).] Thence it ranges to the 
mountains of southeastern Arizona and south to central Mexico. It appears to 
be non-migratory and confined to the mountains, where it occurs from the foot-¬ 
hills to about 7,000 feet.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In live oaks, sycamores, and maples. Eggs: Usually 3 or 4, white. 
Food. —Insects and larvae. 
General Habits. —The rare brown Arizona Woodpeckers of south¬ 
western New Mexico are largely birds of the live oaks, over whose 
trunks and branches they hunt diligently for insects. 
In the Huachuca Mountains Mr. Swarth found them from about 
4,500 feet up to 8,000 feet, though he says they are not often seen above 
7,000 feet. In winter, they favor the large groves of live oaks along the 
foothills and at the mouths of the canyons, but at the approach of the 
breeding season scatter over the higher parts of the mountains. He 
found them very tame. A young one that visited his camp showed not 
only fearlessness but an investigating turn of mind. A horse was led 
down to the well close to the oak to which he was clinging, and when 
the animal began drinking he flew down and, lighting on its hind leg as 
on the side of a tree, hit it a vigorous rap or two. When the horse moved, 
he retreated to his tree but “it wasn't a minute before he was back again, 
this time on a front leg, where he went to work with such energy as to 
start the horse plunging and kicking in an effort to get rid of his curious 
assailant” (J904, p. 11). 
