PICIB^: WOODPECKERS. 



487 



156. 



Woodpecker ( 9 ). Black-breasted Woodpecker ( 9 ). Red-throated Woodpecker 

 (<J). Williamson's Woodpecker {$). Adult $ : Glossy black, including all the tail- 

 feathers. IJelly gamboge yellow. A narrow scarlet patch on the throat. Upper tail-coverts, 

 a broad oblique bar on the wing-coverts, a post-ocular stripe, a stripe frotn nostrils below eye 

 and ear, and small, in part paired, spots on the quills, white. Lining of wings, sides of body, 

 flanks and crissum varied with wiiite, leaving the black in bars and cordate spots. Bill slate- 

 color ; feet greenish-gray ; iris reddish-brown. Length 9.00-9.50 ; extent 16.00-17.00 ; wing 

 5.00-5.50 ; tail 3.75 ; bill 0.90; whole foot 1.67- Adult 9 : Altogether different ; only upper 

 tail-coverts white and belly yellow as in ^ ; only continuously black in a shield-shaped area 

 on breast of varying extent. Otherwise, entire body, including wing-coverts, inner secondaries 

 and most tail-feathers, closely and regularly baiTed crosswise with black and white, or brownish- 

 white (most brownish on body, quite white on 

 wings and tail). Whole head uniform hair- 

 brown, invaded more or less with the varie- 

 gation of the body, sometimes with traces of 

 the post-ocular stripe of the ^, and often 

 touclied with red on the throat. Quills more 

 heavily white-spotted than in ^, the spots 

 paired on all the feathers, changing to bars 

 on the inner ones. Two or three interme- 

 diate tail-feathers black, but middle and one 

 or two outer pairs barred. Size of the ^. 

 The extraordinary sexual differences long 

 kept thyrdides and " williamsoni " apart in 

 the books as perfectly distinct species ; espe- 

 cially as they begin with the first featherings, 

 fledglings in the nest showing the opposite 

 patterns perfectly. Young ^ : Like adult ; no red in the white throat-patch ; belly merely 

 yellowish ; tail varied with white. Young 9 : Like adult, but whole head, neck, and breast 

 banded with dusky and gray, conformable with the general vaiiegation of the body. The best 

 9 9 are those with the cleanest brown head and mosi black breast. Though the general 

 effect t)f this beautiful woodpecker is so peculiar, in each sex, the coloration is referable to 

 the pattern of S. varius. In both, yellow belly, red throat (^), white upper tail-coverts, 

 spotted quills, varied flanks and crissum, stripes on head, black breast (only circumscribed in 

 9), white oblique wing-bar (only developed in ^), variegation of inner web of middle tail- 

 feather (9 and young ^); general variegation of back of varius repeated in 9, while gray 

 head of young varius is met by brown head of 9 thyrmdes. Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, U. S., 

 chiefly in the pine-belt, of which it is one of the characteristic species, like Clarke's crow, 

 Steller's jay, and other birds ; abundant in favorable localities. It is strictly a Sphyropicus, 

 with little extensible, brushy and obtuse tongue, and feeds on juices of trees, as well as insects 

 and berries. Eggs not yet taken : doubtless indistinguishable from those of S. Varius. 

 CENTU'RUS. (Gr. Kevrpov, kentron, a prickle ; oi/pd, oura, tail ; but the species not sharper- 

 tailed than other woodpeckers.) Zebra Woodpeckers. Bill about as long as head, com- 

 pressed, little bevelled or truncate at end, with decidedly curved culmen ; lateral ridges near 

 culmen, subsiding before reaching end of bill ; nasal tufts moderate, partly concealing nostrils. 

 Outer hind toe shorter than outer anterior one. AVings and tail ordinary. Sexes alike, except 

 less or no red on head of 9 • " Ladder-backed; " back and wings, except larger quills, closely 

 banded with black and white ; primaries with large white blotches near the base, and usually a 

 few smaller spots ; below, immaculate, except sagittate black marks on the flanks and crissum ; 

 the belly tinged with red or yellow; 9-10 long; wing about 5.00; tail about 3.50. 



— Red-throated Woodpecker (^f), nat. size. 

 E. C.) 



