238 Birds of Colorado 



The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a straggler to eastern Colorado 

 only. It was seen by Z. X. Snyder near Greeley in 1895, and Aiken 

 procured a single male close to Lim,on on May 23rd, 1899. This specimen 

 is now in the Colorado College Museum. 



Genus COLAPTES. 



Bill rather weak for the family ; culmen slightly curved and strongly 

 ridged, but the lateral ridges absent and the nostrils exposed ; toes four, 

 the outer posterior distinctly shorter than the outer anterior, the inner 

 posterior (hallux) very short ; pltomage variegated, but the under-parts 

 always with round black spots on a pale ground. 



An, American genus with three species in the United States as well 

 as several geographical subspecies and hybrids. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Lining of the wings and tail yellow. C. a. luteus, p. 238. 



B. Lining of the wings and tail red. C. c. coUaris, p. 239. 



Northern Flicker. Colaptes auratus luteus. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 412a— Colorado Records— Thorne 87, p. 264 ; 

 Morrison 89, p. 145 ; Allen 92, pp. 21-44 ; Osbxirn 93, p. 212 ; Cooke 

 97, pp. 85, 162, 208 ; Burns 00, pp. 1-82 ; Felger 05, p. 421 ; Markman 

 07, p. 156. 



Description. — Male — Crown, back and sides of the neck ashy-grey, 

 with a transverse scarlet nuchal band ; back and exposed parts of 

 wings olive, transversely banded with black ; rump white, upper tail- 

 coverts black and white ; primaries and taU-quills black with yeUow 

 shafts (except the two median tail-feathers) and yellow linings below ; 

 sides of the face, throat and fore-neck vinaceous, with a black moustache 

 patch and a black crescent on the breast ; posteriorly pale vinaceous 

 to dirty white, spotted with black ; iris brown, bill and feet dark-slaty. 

 Length 12-0 ; wing 6-0 ; tail 4-25 ; culmen 1-4 ; tarsus l-l. 



The female resembles the male, but has no black moustache patch. 



Distribution. — Eastern and northern North America from Alaska, 

 Yukon and Labrador south, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains, to 

 Kansas and North Carolina. 



In Colorado pure-bred examples of the Yellow Flicker are seldom 

 mot with, though the intermediates or hybrids are common enough. 



Osburn obtained a typical Yellow Fhcker at Lovoland, September 

 24th, 1889, and Thorne another at Fort Lyon in December, 1883. 

 An example was recently collected by Felger at Hall Valley in Park co. 

 at an elevation of 10,000 feet, October 24th, 1904, showing that it some- 

 times extends into the mountains. Markman found a nest on the Big 



