BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 219 



In external characters this genus seems to be only slightly dif- 

 ferentiated from Tripsufnis, with which it agrees in the broadly 

 naked area about the eye. 



CHRYSOPTILUS MELANOLAIMUS MELANOLAIMUS (Malherbe)^' 



Chrysopicns melanolaitnus Malherbe, Mou. Pic, vol. 2, 1862, p. 1S5, pU 

 89, figs. 7 and 8. (Bolivia and Chile.) 



A male in partial molt secured at Tunuj^an, Mendoza, on March 

 27, 1921, is taken as representing the typical race of this woodpecker^ 

 though specimens from Bolivia, the type-locality, have not been 

 available for comparison. The black area posterior to the malar 

 stripe is broad and extensive, so that it passes down on the side of 

 the neck well below the level of the ear. The underparts are marked 

 with heavy black spots and bars, and small spots cover the entire 

 abdomen. The rump is very light. Measurements of this specimen 

 are as follows: Wing, 118; culmen, 37.2; tail, 95.6; tarsus, 32 mm. 

 Scattered new feathers are still in the sheaths on the head, neck, 

 breast, back, and wing coverts. The outer primaries have been 

 renewed, but the inner ones and some of the secondaries are still of 

 old growth. 



An adult female from Victorica, Pampa, taken December 27, 1920^ 

 is somewhat intermediate toward C. a. pei'plexus, but in the small 

 series of specimens at liand seems to be nearer to those that I have 

 called melanoJaimus. The bird in question is in worn breeding 

 plumage. The light markings of the upper surface are bleached 

 until they are nearly white, and the black post malar mark is ex- 

 tensive. The markings of the lower surface are less heavy than in 

 birds from Mendoza, but the abdomen is distinctly spotted. This 

 bird measures as follows: Wing, 161.2; culmen, 37.1; tail, 101; 

 tarsus, 31 mm. 



A male in the United States National Museum, taken at Santiago 

 del Estero, July 29, 1922, by D. S. Bullock, is also representative of 

 this form, as it has the bold markings and large size characteristic 

 of melanolahnus. It measures as follows: Wing, 156.2; tail, 102.2; 

 culmen from base, 38.2; tarsus, 30 mm. 



At Victorica, Pampa, these woodpeckers were found from De- 

 cember 27 to 29, at times in parties of five or six, through the dry, 

 open forest of calden, algarroba, and similar trees prevalent in this 

 section. The presence of two in the arid region near Tunuyan, 

 Mendoza, on March 27, on a low hill covered with bushes, was a 

 surprise to me, as large tree growth in this neighborhood was con- 

 fined to poplars, cottonwoods, and willows growing along irrigation 

 ditches. 



«> Though the bird is indicated as melanoJaimus in the text the plate is marked 

 melanolaemua. 



