FAMILY PICIDAE 555 



Juvenile male, with lower foreneck, breast and sides lined indis- 

 tinctly with dull black; forehead duller gray, and crown duller red 

 than in adult. 



Juvenile female, crown feathers light gray with subterminal spots of 

 dull black, producing a mottled appearance ; nape paler, more orange- 

 red, in some the bright color much restricted; streaking on under 

 surface less in amount than in the juvenile male, in some absent; 

 center of abdomen faintly tinged with orange-red. 



As a species this woodpecker is found from southwestern Costa Rica 

 and western Chiriqui along the Pacific slope of Panama, (including 

 offshore islands) to westernmost Darien. In the lowlands of the 

 Canal Zone area it crosses to the Caribbean side, where it ranges west 

 to the valley of the Rio Indio in western Colon and northern Code, 

 and east through eastern Colon to western San Bias. After a con- 

 siderable gap that includes most of Darien and San Bias in Panama, 

 and Choco and northwestern Antioquia in Colombia, it appears again 

 in the valley of the Rio Sinu, in Cordoba, and continues east across 

 northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. Throughout the entire 

 range the only outstanding differences are in the definitely darker 

 population of Isla Coiba, and in those with reduced red on the head 

 of the Guajira Peninsula and the coastal area of northwestern Vene- 

 zuela. Aside from these there is some variation in size and, to a slight 

 degree, in color mainly on the lower surface of the body. 



In an earlier study of these birds (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 134, 

 no. 9, 1957, pp. 51-54), with the information then available, I listed 

 birds of the entire mainland range under the subspecies rubricapillus, 

 except for the population called paraguanae. Field work since in 

 eastern Panama has outlined the extensive gap in the range which 

 separates the birds of Panama from those of South America. This, 

 with additional series of specimens, has clarified detailed minor varia- 

 tions of difference, so that clearer understanding of the group is pos- 

 sible. With this the birds of mainland Panama, and of Colombia and 

 Venezuela, may be distinguished by slight differences as separate 

 subspecies. 



The following summary outlines present understanding of these 

 races, except for the island subspecies of Panama which are described 

 later in this report. 



Centurus rubricapillus terricolor Berlepsch 



Centurus terricolor Berlepsch, Ibis, January 1880, p. 113. (Orinoco district, 

 Venezuela.) 



