BIRDS OF SOUTHERN VERACRUZ — WETM30RE 273 



CELEUS CASTANEUS (Wagler) 



Picus castaneus Wagler, Isis von Oken, 1829, p. 515 (Veracruz, Veracruz, 

 Mexico 30 ). 

 Carriker secured a pair on March 19, 1940, at an elevation of 

 about 1,000 feet on Cerro de Tuxtla. The birds were ranging low 

 in an area where the forest was dense above and dark below. 



PICULUS RUBIGINOSUS YUCATANENSIS (Cabot) 



Pious yucatanensis Cabot, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, May 1844, p. 164 

 (road i'rom Cheinax to Yalahao, Yucatan 31 ). 



Carriker found these birds fairly abundant in the forest over the 

 higher elevations of the Sierra de Tuxtla, taking specimens on Cerro 

 de Tuxtla on March 19 and April 1 and 9 and on Volcan San Martin 

 on April 22 and 23, 1940. He saw them frequently low among the 

 trees on the smaller trunks, even on the thorny palms. 



These specimens range somewhat smaller than the dimensions 

 usually given for this race, being as follows: 3 males, wing 114.5- 

 116.2, tail 62.2-65.2, culmen from base 24.3-26.3, tarsus 20.8-22.0 mm. ; 

 4 females, wing 111.4-115.4, tail 60.2-70.0, culmen from base 22.3- 

 25.3, tarsus 20.2-21.7 mm. 



CENTURUS AURIFRONS VERAECRUCIS (Nelson) 



Melanerpes dubUts veraecrucis Nelson, Auk, 1900, p. 259 (Coatzacoalcos, Vera- 

 cruz). 



The 11 specimens come from near Tres Zapotes, March 8, 14, 

 23, and 31, 1939, January 20, February 26, and March 7, 1940, and 

 from Tlacotalpam, February 6, 1940. The form is one that ranges 

 throughout the area from the coastal sandhills to the lower slopes 

 of the Sierra de Tuxtla, principally in open country with scattering 

 trees, though found occasionally in the higher trees of the forests. 

 The lanes bordering the milpas were especially favored by them. 

 The natives recognize this form of car pint ero as one that feeds on corn. 



The general habits and appearance of this woodpecker are similar 

 to others of its group. The flight is bounding, accompanied often by 

 flashes of color from the white of the rump and the red of the head. 

 The call notes are chattering, and the drum is rapid, though rather 

 short. The nesting season came at the end of March, when the birds 

 became especially noisy and vociferous. On March 23 I observed a 

 pair working on a nest hole in a large dead tree standing in a weed- 

 grown field. By the end of the month all were mating. 



30 Designated by Cory, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 13, pt. 2, No. 2, Dec. 31, 

 1919, p. 453. 



"Cabot, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, 1845, p. 92, says: "I saw only two of these 

 birds, and procured this one specimen in March, 1842, on the road from Cheniax to Yalahao." 



