548 TWO XEJF DOWNY WOODPECEEBS—OBEBHOLSEE. vol.xviii. 



Descrijjtion.—Adnlt male (No. 150139, U.S.N.M., Lake Arbuckle, 

 Polk County, Florida, March 7, 1895; William Palmer). Ui)per jiarts 

 black; nasal feathers yellowish white, slightly mixed with black; 

 superciliary aud dorsal strijies, together with stripe on the side of the 

 head and wSpotting on wings, white. Middle tail-feathers black; next 

 pair black, with very slight white edging on terminal portion of outer 

 webs; remaining tail-feathers white, more or less varied with black. 

 Under surface pale brownish; lower tail-coverts well marked with 

 black. No white tips to the live outer primaries. A red nuchal band. 



Length, 152.4 mm. ; extent, 283.7 mm.; wing, 80.4 mm.; tail-feathers, 

 53.3 mm. ; exposed culmen, 15.5 mm. ; tarsus, 15.2 mm. ; middle toe with 

 claw, 15.2 mm. 



Habitat. — South Atlantic and Gulf States, from South Carolina to 

 Texas. 



This form w^as first described from Georgia, by Swainson,^ who men- 

 tioned its small size and the darker color of the lower parts in contrast 

 to D.imhescens; but having only two si)ecimens for examination he very 

 cautiously expressed his doubt in regard to its validity. 



The amount of white on the wings and tail of D. puhescens meridio- 

 nalis is, in a majority of the specimens examined, somewhat less than 

 in I). 2)i(hescens, the difference being most appreciable on the tips of the 

 primaries and on the outer of the two middle pairs of tail-feathers. 

 The darker appearance of the under i^arts in specimens from the South- 

 ern States is usually quite apparent, although the whitest individuals 

 from Florida are almost indistinguishable in this respect from some 

 si)ecimeus of J). pubeHccns. The birds of a small series from Gaines- 

 ville, Florida, collected by Mr. F. M. Chapman, are darker than any of 

 the others examined, aud would appear to be somewhat adventitiously 

 stained, as evidently are some specimens of Z>. puhescens from the coal 

 regions of Pennsylvania and northern Ohio. 



With regard to size, tbe birds from Florida are smallest, the average 

 measurements of 42 adults from that State being as follows: Wing, 

 88.6 mm.; tail-feathers, 5G.1 mm.; exposed culmen, 15.2 mm.; tarsus, 

 15.2 mm.; middle toe with claw, 15.2 mm. Sj)ecimens from the other 

 Gulf States, together with those from South Carolina and Georgia, are 

 slightly larger than Florida birds, but are not otherwise noticeably 

 different. 



The birds at hand from North Carolina, Tennessee, Indian Territory, 

 southern Illinois and extreme southern Virginia, appear to be inter 

 mediate between D. puhescens meridioualis and J). 2)i<bcsct'Hs ; and these, 

 although not above included, are perhaps without impropriety referable 

 to D. imhescens mcridionalis. 



' Fauna Bor. Amer., II, 175. 



