BIRDS—PICIDAE—-MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. 113 
Comparative measurements of species. 
] ] a | ] 
Catal. Species. Locality. ) Sex. |Length.| Stretch | Wing. | Tail. | Tarsus.) Middle |Its claw Bill | Along | Specimen 
No. | | of wings. | toe. alone. | above. | gape. | measu 
| = a | S| 
883 Melanerpes erythrocephalus.) Carlisle........ e B. 62 5 3.63| 0.84] 0.90 0.38 ea) Lela Skint ees 
CO. eevee eeeens ap es a aif tm aletelsiein' | eece's\ele e:o||leierenbciers Fresh 
S615 0.94 1.00 0.34 1.20 1.20 | Skin ..... 
6150 | Melanerpes formicivorus...| California..... 0.90) 0.94 0.34 1.19 | 1.19 | Skin..... 
BAGG Aes ai lecess0 sca seeslsacs aie Petaluma...... 0.88 0.98 0.38 1.22 | 1.24] Skin)..... 
6138 Melanerpes torquatus ...... | Tulare valley .. 0.96} 1.02 0.40 1,20 1.28 | Skin ..... 
0.98; 1.10} 0.42] 1.16] 1,92] Skin..... 
3934 |.eseeeeeeee dO cece ccccvecece California ..... 
MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS, Swainson. 
Red-headed Woodpecker. 
Picus erythrocephalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—-Viemror, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 60; pl. exii, exiii.— 
Wirson, Am. Orn. I, 1810, 142; pl. ix, fig. 1—Wacter, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 14.—Is. Isis, 
1829, 518, (young.)—Avp. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 141: V, 536, pl. 27.—Is. Birds America, 
IV, 1842, 274 ipl. 271. 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 316.—Bon. List, 1838—Is. Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Gampen, J. 
Ac. Nat. Sc. Ph. 2d ser. I, 1847, 55. 
Picus obscurus, Gm. I, 1788, 429, (young.) 
Red-headed woodpecker, PENNANT, Kato, LaTHam. 
White-rwmped woodpecker, LarHam. 
Se. Cu.—Head and neck all round crimson red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast. 
Back, primary quills, and tail bluish black. Under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the ramp 
white. The female is not different. Length about 93 inches ; wing, 54. 
Hab.—North America, from the Atlantic coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. (Coast of California, Gambel.) 
The crimson feathers on the head and neck all round have the same bristly texture as 
described under JZ. torquatus. The red descends much lower below than above ; its posterior 
outline well defined and semi-circular. The white on the wing involves the «whole of the 
secondaries and tertiaries, except the extreme base ; the shafts are black. There is a yellowish 
tinge to the white on the middle of the belly, and the exterior tail feathers are tipped with 
whitish. The inside of the wing is white. 
I can detect no difference in western specimens. Occasionally the secondaries and tertiaries are 
‘blotched or barred with black near the end, (587.) Immature specimens almost always have this 
character. The young lack the red of the head, which is replaced by brown obscurely spotted 
and streaked. Dr. Gambel speaks of this species as common in oak timber near the Mission 
of San Gabriel, California, but none have been noticed west of the mountains by any one else. 
15 b 
