THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 295 



summit of La Selle April 9 to 15, Las Cahobes, April 20, Maissade 

 April 21, Hinche April 22 to 24, and Caracol April 26 and 27. Dan- 

 forth in the summer of 1927 says that he found them nesting in 

 large cacti. Poole and Perrygo secured specimens at St. Michel 

 December 23, 26, and 29, 1928, Dondon January 18, St. Raphael 

 January 12 and 13, Fort Liberte February 7 and 8, St. Marc Febru- 

 ary 25 and Cerca-la-Source March 22 and 23, 1929. 



An adult male taken by Wetmore at Fonds-des-Negres April 2, 

 1 927, had the maxilla and tip of mandible dull black ; rest of mandi- 

 ble neutral gray; iris bright yellow; tarsus and toes greenish gray. 



W. deW. Miller 17 has given a detailed discussion of the structural 

 characters of this woodpecker and has segregated it in the genus 

 Chryserpes distinct from other species of its group. On critical 

 examination we find the Hispaniolan woodpecker generally similar to 

 Centurus carolinus, the type of the genus Centurus, but with culmen 

 more sharply ridged, feathers of crown and nape shorter and stiffer, 

 upper tail coverts much shorter, and the tuft of the oil gland shorter. 

 Other characters are of minor importance but aid to indicate the 

 generic distinctness of the species. 



Miller examined a fair series of these birds and gives it as his 

 opinion that "there is little doubt that Chryserpes striatus consists of 

 two or three races differing chiefly if not wholly in size." Kaempfer 18 

 believed that birds from 800 to 1,000 meters altitude and above 

 differed from those of the lowlands in being larger with heavier 

 bills. We have compared an excellent series and find considerable 

 difference in size individually and some seasonal variation in color 

 due to plumage wear in birds from arid localities but can not corre- 

 late this variation with geographic locality. We consider it entirely 

 individual. Difference in wing measurement in birds from one lo- 

 cality may be as much as ten millimeters, and the size and strength 

 of the bill may vary in equivalent amount. 



The Hispaniolan woodpecker is a robust bird from 225 to 265 mm. 

 in length, yellowish green on the back heavily barred with black, 

 wings black barred with dull yellow, tail black above, yellowish olive 

 below, rump and nape red, breast brownish yellow and abdomen 

 olive yellow. The male has the crown red while in the female it 

 is black. 



SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS VARIUS (Linnaens) 



YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER, CHARPENTIER 



Picus varius Linnaeus, Syst. Nat, ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 176 (Carolina). 

 Sphyrapicus varius, Lonneerg, Fauna och Flora, 1929, p. 98 (Haiti). 

 Sphyrapicus varius varius, Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 

 1928, p. 505 (Gonave and Tortue Islands). 



17 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 34, 1915, pp. 517-520. 

 18 Journ. fiir Ornith., 1924, p. 179. 



