PICID^ — THE WOODPECKERS. 557 



Centurus aurifrons, Gray. 



YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



Picus aurifrons, Wagler, Isis, 1829, 512. — Sundevall, Consp. Pic. 53. Centurus auri- 

 frons. Gray, Genera. — Cabanis, Jour. 1862, 323. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 399. 

 Cenhiriis flavivcntris, Swainson, Anim. in Menag. 1838 (2^ centenaries), 354. — Baird, 

 Birds N. Am. 1858, 110, pi. xlii. — Heermann, P. R. Rep. X, c, 18. — Dresser, Ibis, 

 1865, 469 (resident in Texas). — Ib. Rep. Mex. Bound. II, 5, pi. iv. Centurus elegans, 

 Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lye. V, May, 1851, 116. Centurus santacruzi, Lawrence, 

 Ann. N. Y. Lye. V, 1851, 123 (not of Bonap.). Picus ornatus. Less. Rev. Zool. 

 1839, 102. 



Sp. Char. Fourth aud fifth quills nearly equal ; third a little shorter; longer than the 

 fourth. Back banded transversely with black and white ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 pure white. Crown with a subquadrate spot of crimson, about half an inch wide and 

 long ; and separated from the gamboge-yellow at the base of the bill by dirty white, 

 from the orbit and occiput by brownish-ash. Nape half-way round the neck orange- 

 yellow. Tinder part generally, and sides of head, dirty white. Middle of belly gamboge- 

 yellow. Tail-feathers all entirely black, except the outer, which has some obscure bars 

 of white. Length about 9.50 ; wing, 5.00. Female without the red of the crown. 



Hab. Rio Grande region of the United States, south into Mexico. Probably Arizona. 

 Localities : Orizaba (Sol. P. Z. S. 1860, 252) ; Texas, south of San Antonio (Dresser, 

 Ibis, 1865, 469, resident). 



Young birds are not different from adults, except in showing indication of 

 dark shaft-lines beneath, becoming broader behind on the sides. The yel- 

 low of the nape extends over the whole side of the head. 



Habits. This beautiful Woodpecker is abundant throughout the valley 

 of the Rio Grande, from Eagle Pass to its mouth ; how far to the west within 

 our boundaries it occurs, I am not able to state. It is common throufihout 

 Mexico, and was found in the Guatemalan collection of Van Patten, though 

 not mentioned by Sclater and Salvin. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Pteport on the 

 zoology of Captain Sitgreaves's expedition, speaks of finding it quite abun- 

 dant in the neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. He adds that west of the 

 Rio San Pedro he did not meet with it. He speaks of it as having a loud, 

 sharp cry, which it utters as it flies from tree to tree. He observed it mostly 

 on the trunks of the mesquite (Algarobia), diligently searching in the usual 

 manner of Woodpeckers. In the Report upon the birds of the Mexican 

 Boundary Survey, it is mentioned by Mr. Clark as abundant on the Lower 

 Rio Grande, as very shy, and as keeping chiefly about the mesquite. Lieu- 

 tenant Couch speaks of it as very common throughout Tamaulipas. 



Mr. Dresser found the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker plentiful from the 

 Rio Grande to San Antonio, and as far north and east as the Guadaloupe, 

 after which he lost sight of it. Wherever the mesquite-trees were large, 

 there it was sure to be found, and very sparingly elsewhere. Near San 

 Antonio it is quite common, but not so much so as the C. carolinus. At 

 Eagle Pass, however, it was the more abundant of the two. He found it 



