486 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PICARI^ —PICIFOBMES. 



446. S. va'rius. (L;it. varius, variegated. Fig. 336.) Ykllow-bellied Woodpecker. $: 

 Crown crimson, bordered all arouud with black ; chin, throat, and breast black, enclosing a large 

 crimson patch on the former (in the ^ ; in the 9 this patch white) ; sides of head with a white 

 line starting from the nasal feathers and dividing the black of the throat from a trans-ocular 

 black strij)e, this separated from the black of the crown by a white pcst-ocular stiipe ; all these 

 stripes frequently yellowish. Under parts dingy yellow, brownish and with sagittate dusky 

 marks on the sides. Back variegated with black and yellowish. Wings black with a large 

 oblique white bar on the coverts ; the quills with numerous paired white spots on the edges 

 of both webs. Tail black, most of the feathers white-edged, the inner webs of the middle pair, 



and the upper coverts, mostly white. Bill 

 brownish; feet greenish-plumbeous; iris 

 brown. Young birds lack the definite 

 black areas of the head and breast, and the 

 crimson throat-patch, these parts being 

 mottled gray ; but in any plumage the bird 

 is recognized by its yellowness, different 

 from what is seen in any other Eastern 

 sjiecies, and the broad white wing-bar, to 

 say nothing of the generic characters. 

 Length 8.25-8.75; extent 15.00-16.00; 

 wing 4.80-5.20; tail 3.50. Eastern N. 

 Am., abundant in most U. S. localities, 

 resident in the South, migratory northerly ; 

 N. to Cl° at least ; W. to Dakota ; S. into 

 Central Am. and W. I. The hyoid bones 

 are the shortest of those of any N. Am. 

 species ; the tongue is protrusible only about i inch beyond biU. Eggs 4-G, about 0.95 X 0.70. 



447. s. V. nuchalis. (Lat. nuchalis, pertaining to nucha, the nape ; not classic.) Nuchal Wood- 

 pecker. Like the last ; with an additional band of scarlet on the nape (where the white is 

 seldom even tinged with red in S. varius) ; red throat-patch invading the surrounding black, and 

 9 with this patch at least in part red ; all the yellowish variegation very pale, almost white on 

 the belly (where varius is yellowest) ; bill slaty-black (not brownish). Size of varius. Rocky 

 Mt. region, U. S., abundant. In S. varius 



the red rarely spreads on the nape, and the 

 9 seldom has any on the throat. In S. 

 nuchalis this extension of red is a step 

 which culminates in S. ruber. 



448. S. V. ru'ber. (Lat. ruber, red.) Red- 

 breasted Woodpecker. Like the last, 

 but whole head, neck, and breast carmine- 

 red, in botli sexes, in Avhich the markings 

 of varius are more or less completely dis- 

 solved, though usually traceable ; gray in 

 the young. Size of the last. Pacific coast 

 region, U. S. A remarkable extreme, long 

 supposed to be perfectly distinct; now 

 known to intergrade in every degree with Fig. 337. — Brown-headed Woodpecker (?), nat. siza 

 nuchalis. (Ad nat. del. E. 0.) 



449. S. th3rroi'des. (Gr. 6vpfoet8f)s. thureoeides, shield-like ; dvpeos, thureos, a shield ; eiSos, 

 resemblance ; alluding to the black plastron of the 9 . Figs. 3.S7, 338.) Brown-headed 



Fig. 336. —Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, nat. size. 

 nat. del. E. C.) 



