BIEDS OF ARGENTINA, PAEAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 223 



They gave the chattering call usual to young woodpeckers in begging 

 for food, and in addition emitted a low wheezing note. The smallest 

 was entirely devoid of down. All had prominent heelpads. These 

 birds were preserved in alcohol. 



COLAPTES CAMPESTRIS CAMPESTKIS (VieUlot) 



Pious campestris Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 24, 1818, p. 101. 

 (Paraguay.) 



A male collected at Kilometer 80, west of Puerto Pinasco, Para- 

 guay, on Se^Dtember 13, 1920, was the only one secured. Two were 

 recorded near the Rio Paraguay at Puerto Pinasco on September 3. 

 At Villa Concepcion, Paraguay, on October 3, an individual at rest 

 in a tree continually flashed one wing to display the yellow mark- 

 ings below. 



The Auguete Indians called this species wpaiku. 



The male taken had the following measurements: Wing, 159; 

 tail, 106.4; exposed culmen, 34.5; tarsus, 32.1 mm. 



COLAPTES CAMPESTROroES (Malherbe) 



Geopicos {Colaptes Swainson) campestroides Malhekbe, Rev. Mag. Zool., 

 1849, p. 541. (South Brazil.) 



In habits and general appearance the pampas flicker differs little 

 from the familiar Colaptes auratus of the eastern United States. 

 The carpintero del suelo, as C. campestroides is usually known, is 

 found frequently in little bands that feed on the ground in open 

 country, dotted with trees to which the birds may fly for shelter. 

 Through the Chaco they were common in the open savannas, and 

 were also abundant through the undulating pampas and the low- 

 land palm forests of eastern Uruguay. Recent burns were always 

 attractive to them. Though formerly reported as common on the 

 level plains of Buenos Aires and near-by Provinces, the species may 

 now be almost extinct there as I sav»^ none in extended travels 

 through that region. (PI. 3.) 



One of the call notes of the pampas flicker is a loud call strongly 

 suggestive of the whistle of a greater yellowlegs, especially when 

 heard at a distance across a marshy savanna where conditions of 

 situation favor such a deception. When several gather on the 

 trunk of a tree or a fence post, they go through many gesticulations 

 with nodding heads, the whole accompanied by loud ejaculations of 

 tvhick whick whick. Often one or both wings are extended and 

 retracted quickly with a sudden flash of j^ellow, as the undersurface 

 of the flight feathers is displayed. Another call is a harsh kiu, a 

 signal that carries far across the open country. In the palm groves 

 of Uruguay, when young flickers had recently left their nests, this 

 species joined the oven birds in railing at my intrusions. 



