noble: the resident birds of Guadeloupe. 379 



Swifts, and again on July 22d several were seen in an evening flight 

 over Grand Etang, Deshaies. But at Goyave, August 29th the 

 species was flying by day. SmaU flocks passed back and forth across 

 a cow pasture throughout the heat of the day. These flocks remained 

 in the same locahty for several days and did not seem to be migratory. 

 Xo flocks were observed m the evening, but scattered individuals were 

 flving with the Black Swifts. 



24. Melanerpes herminieri (Lesson). 

 Tapeur. 



Seven adults from Ste. Rose, July 16th-19th and eight adults from 

 Goyave August 20th-September 1st. 



Ridgway (Bull. 50, U. S. N. M., 1914, pt. 4, p. 12) has created 

 a monotypic genus for this species. The tendency to split up the 

 Antillean woodpeckers into separate genera was carried further still 

 l)y Miller (Bull. Amer. mus. nat. hist., 1915, 34, p. 518) in his descrip- 

 tion of the Porto Rican form. There are, to be sure, some small 

 differences between the Guadeloupe bird and any other species of 

 Melanerpes, but I believe it is entirely a matter of individual opinion 

 as to whether the Guadeloupe species should be separated from its 

 mainland relatives and placed in a separate genus. It is perhaps 

 worthy of note that in Antillean reptiles and amphibians we find most 

 of the genera to be of wide distribution. 



The Tapeur is certainly not a rare bird on the island but seems to 

 be \ery local in distribution. It is confined to the hardwood belt 

 covering the hills. Only once did I observe a woodpecker near a 

 village. Then the bird was clinging to a half-decayed tree in front 

 of the Gendarmerie at Ste. Rose. 



The first time I became familiar with the Tapeur was in a sunny 

 valley among the hills of Cluny. Every morning upon rising I would 

 hear the roll of a woodpecker far away on some distant slope. Then a 

 bird perhaps nearer at hand would answer until finally three or four 

 would be rolling at once. Often they would call, or rather bray, 

 and then the note reminded me of the warning cry of the Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius varius). There were many 

 deserted nesting holes nearby, but none was lower than fifty feet from 

 the groimd. 



