34 Maynard on Colaptes auratus. 



mens, notably in birds from Pennsylvania, and the reason 

 why it occurred has puzzled me considerably. I have 

 always been inclined to consider that some local climatic 

 condition, approaching that under which the typical mexi- 

 canus lives, was the cause of it. The peculiar stages of 

 plumage of these Michigan Birds have caused me to think 

 that I may have been wrong in my previous conclusions. 

 It is a well known fact that where two sexes of a species, 

 which are of widely different shade of color, especially 

 among domesticated animals, mate, the offspring are not apt 

 to resemble their parents in any peculiarities, but that they 

 are more likely to exhibit some character which was pre- 

 sent among their remote ancestors. Take this into con- 

 sideration in the case in hand and we have: (1) A pale race 

 of ColajJtes auratus which is established in Michigan; (2) A 

 dark outsider perchance wanders into this community and 

 mates wdth the pale bird; (3) This union produces the 

 disturbing element and the offspring receives as the result 

 of this union the stamp of some peculiar ancestral charac- 

 ter, which in this case is shown in two ways; first in the 

 red on the black maxillary patch, second in the female 

 assuming a maxillary patch either black or red. 



In advancing this hypothesis it will be at once perceived 

 that we are assuming that the original stock of the Golden- 

 winged Woodpecker was typical mexicanus, not auratus; 

 but in the black and red mustache in the female, I think 

 that we can advance a step beyond this and assume that 

 the original stock was some typical species in which both 

 sexes possessed the black m;ixillary patch and which often 

 times passed through, so to speak, the mexicanus form, 

 breeding out into typical auratus. 



Assuming the correctness of the hypothesis that any 

 admixture of blood from an outside element into any quite 

 well defined local race, produces a disturbance which is 



