THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 229 



It feeds upon fruits and the species may be observed in great numbers 

 where there is an abundance of ripe figs. 



A bird of February 19 had the gonads greatly enlarged and juveniles 

 have been taken between April 15 and July 10. An adult collected 

 September 16 is just completing the molt. 



Two females had the irides dark brown ; the eyelids edged purplish 

 slate; the orbital skin dull crimson; the bill dull black, the mandible 

 fleshy beneath at the base; the feet and toes coral red; the claws dull 

 red. 



The adult has the front half of the crown shining crimson, separated 

 by a narrow black bar from the slaty green of the hind crown; the 

 remaining upperparts deep green, suffused with bronze on the back 

 and wings; a short supercilium and a patch below the eye bright 

 yellow ; the side of the head otherwise black ; the throat bright yellow ; 

 a shining crimson gorget on the upper breast, broadly bordered below 

 with golden-yellow; the remaining underparts cream, everywhere 

 boldly streaked with deep green. The immature may be known at any 

 stage by its streaked underparts. 



Family PICIDAE 



PICUS ERYTHROPYGIUS NIGRIGENIS (Hume) 



Western Red-rumped Green Woodpecker 



Gecinus nigrigenis Hume, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, No. 5, 1874, p. 106 (no locality 

 given; type specimen from "Pakchan Creek," Tenasserim, fide Hargitt, 

 Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 18, 1890, p. 68). 



Gecinus nigrigenis, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1913, p. 47 

 (Den Chai, valley of the Mae Yom river, Pak Pan) ; 1916, p. 88 (Pha Kho, 

 Khun Tan) ; Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1915, p. 229 (listed). 



Picus erythropygius nigrigenis, Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 599 ("Northern 

 Siam").— Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 157 (Chiang 

 Mai, Doi Suthep) ; 1936, p. 96 (Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep).— de Schauensee, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1934, p. 249 (Chiang Mai, Mae Taeng).— 

 Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 215 (Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son, 

 Huai Salop, Mae Kong Ka valley, Muang Pai, Mae Khan, Doi Ang Ka, "Doi 

 Phra Chao" [=Doi Saket?], Ban Nam Khian). 



Picus erythropygus nigrigenis, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philidel- 

 phia, 1929, p. 566 (Chiang Mai, Pang La). 



The red-rumped green woodpecker is a very common bird of the dry, 

 deciduous forest almost everywhere, although, in the Mae Khong 

 drainage, it has so far been found only at Muang Fang. It is neces- 

 sarily a lowland form but ascends the hills to the limit of suitable 

 vegetation, on Doi Suthep reaching 2,700 feet. 



This woodpecker is one of the several species of unrelated birds 

 which, in pairs, commonly accompany the loose flocks of white- 

 crested laughing-thrushes through the pa daeng. When frightened, it 

 flies before one from tree to tree, concealing itself behind the trunks, 



