PICID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 



579 



Sp. Char. Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail feathers orange-red. Male with a 

 red patch on each side the cheek ; nape without red crescent ; sometimes very faint 

 indications laterally. Throat and stripe 

 beneath the eye bluish-ash. Back 

 glossed with purplish-brown. Female 

 without the red cheek-patch. Length, 

 about 13.00 ; wing, over G.50. 



Additional Characters. Spots on 

 the belly> a orescent on the breast, and 

 interrupted transverse bands on the 

 back, black. 



Hab. Western North America from 

 Pacific to the Black Hills ; north to 

 Sitka on the coast. Localities: 

 Oaxaca (Sol. P. Z. S. 1858, 305) ; 

 Vera Cruz, alpine regions (Sumichrast, 

 Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 562) ; San 

 Antonio, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 

 470) ; W. Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 

 1866, 56). 



Colaptf 



711 ricniiii<: 



Tlie female is similar in every 

 way, perhaps a little smaller, but lacks tlie red mustache. Tliis is, however, 

 indicated by a brown tinge over an area corresponding witli that of the red 

 of the male. 



In the present specimen (1,880) there is a slight indication of an inter- 

 rupted nuchal red band, as in the common Flicker, in some crimson fibres 

 to some of the feathers about as far l)ehind the eye as this is from the bill. 

 A large proportion of males before us exhibit the same characteristic, some 

 more, some less, altliough it generally requires careful examination for its 

 detection. It may possibly be a characteristic of the not fully mature bird, 

 although it occurs in two out of three male specimens. 



There is a little variation in the size of the pectoral crescent and spots ; 

 the latter are sometimes rounded or oblong cordate, instead of circular. 

 The bill varies as much as three or four tenths of an inch. The rump, 

 usually immaculate, sometimes has a few black streaks. The extent of the 

 red whisker varies a little. In skins from Oregon and Washington the color 

 of the back is as described ; in those from California and New Mexico it is 

 of a grayer cast. There is little, if any, variation in the sliade of red in the 

 whiskers and quill-feathers. The head is washed on the forehead with 

 rufous, passing into ashy on the nape. 



There is not only some difference in the size of this species, in the same 

 locality, but, as a general rule, the more southern specimens are smaller. 



This species is distinct from the C. mexicanoides of Lafresnaye, though 

 somewhat resembling it. It is, liowever, a smaller bird ; the red of the 

 cheeks is deeper ; the whole upper part of the head and neck uniform reddish- 

 cinnamon without any ash, in marked contrast to that on the sides of the 



