Todd — Two New Woodpeckers from Central America. 155 



upper parts. The South American l)ird may possibly belong to a third 

 form, judging from the only skin available (No. 101,21)7, U. S. National 

 Museum, Guayaquil, Ecuador), which may be the true pucherani, but 

 in any case the l)ird occurring from Honduras northward to southern 

 Mexico is subspecitically separable. The differences are obvious even in 

 young birds, as may l)e seen Ijy comparing two such sijecimens as Nos. 

 192,800, U. S. National Museum, Carrillo, Costa Rica, and 112,582, Trux- 

 illo, Honduras, September 27, 1887, both in fresh juvenal dress. Care 

 must be taken in making comparisons to choose specimens in the same 

 state of plumage, for the white spots and edgings wear away more readily 

 than the black areas, as in other woodpeckers. Many of the Mexican 

 specimens examined are in poor plumage, and consequently fail to show 

 the distinctive characters to the best advantage. 



The form under consideration is evidently that which, according to 

 Malherbe (/. c), had been provisionally designated as melanotis by Dr. 

 Sclater in 1857, but this name is, of course, a pure nomen nudum. 



