Red-naped Sapsucker 229 



In this geaiis the tongue is hardly extensile, and the tip is obtuse 

 and brushy ; this is correlated with the habit of feeding on the inner 

 bark and sap of trees, 



A genus confined to America, with three species in the United States. 



The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker {Sphyrapicus variiis) of eastern North 

 America wa^? included in the Colorado hst by Ridgvvay (73, p. 185) 

 and Cooke (97, p. 83), on the authority of Aiken presumably. Mr. 

 Aiken informs me he never took this bird in Coloi-ado and that he does 

 not believe that it comes so far east, and that the record rests on a 

 misapprehension ; it is, however, included in the key, as follows : — 



A. Back black, spotted with white and pale yellowish. 



a. Nape yellowish ; throat red, bounded laterally by black. 



S. varius. 



b. Nape crimson like the crown, separated from it by a narrow 



black band as a rule ; red throat hardly showing black at 

 sides. S. V. nuchalis, p. 229. 



B. Back glossy-black, unmarked. S. thyroideus, <? p. 231. 



C. Back cross-banded with black and white. S. thyroideus, ? p. 231. 



Red-naped Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 402a— Colorado Records— Allen 72, pp. 158, 

 180 ; Henshaw 75, p. 392 ; Scott 79, p. 95 ; Tresz 81, p. 186 ; Drew 

 81, p. 141 ; 85, p. 17 ; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 196 ; Bendire 88, p. 227 ; 

 92, p. 88 ; Morrison 8G, p. 153 ; 88, p. 108 ; 89, p. 68 ; Kellogg 90, p. 87 ; 

 Gk)ss91,p. 331 ; Lowe 94, p. 268 ; McGregor 97, p. 38 ; Cooke 97, pp. 83, 

 207 ; Keyser 02, p. 211 ; Henderson 03, p. 235 ; 09, p. 231 ; Gihnan 

 07, p. 154 ; Warren 08, p. 21 ; 09, p. 15 ; Rockwell 08, p. 164 ; Horsey 

 & Rockwell, 09, p. 118. 



Description. — Male — Crown and a transverse nuchal band crimson, 

 separated by a narrow occipital band of black ; upper-parts black, 

 largely variegated with white and with a faint wash of yellowish in 

 the centre ; wings with the quills spotted with white, and a patch of 

 white on the coverts ; tail also with white ; below, chin and throat- 

 patch crimson, followed by a crescent-shaped patch of black ; a line 

 from the bill below the eye and rest of the under-parts pale yellow 

 with dusky sagittate markings on the sides ; iris brown, bill slaty- 

 brown, feet dusky. Length 7-5 ; wing 4-9 ; tail 3-0 ; cuknen -8 ; 

 tarsus '8. 



The female is Uke the male, but has the chin white, though the 

 throat remains crin^son. A young male killed July 31st, has the crown 

 black with a very faint wash of crimson, and a red throat and black 

 chest with a motthng of dusky and yellowish. 



Distribution. — From eastern British Cokunbia and Alberta, soutk 

 through Colorado to north-western Mexico, west to the Cascades, 



