﻿494 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. loo 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, February 16, 1945; gonads slightly enlarged; iris brown. 



The specimen collected agrees very well with other Venezuelan 

 examples of this race but appears, from the brightness and the extent 

 of the red on the lower back, rump, and upper tail coverts, to be an 

 unusually highly colored individual. 



This red-backed woodpecker was present, but not common, in the 

 dry woods around Cantaura, where, at times, it was found in small 

 groups of five or six individuals. 



The species was not recorded from Caicara, but the collector be- 

 lieves it should be found there, especially in that Caicara is consider- 

 ably closer to Caripe, the type locality for the bird. 



PICUMNCS SQUAMULATUS ROHLI Ziminer and Phelps 



Picumnus squamulatus rohli Zimmer and Phelps, Amer. Mus. Nov., No. 1270, 

 1944, p. 6 (Cotiza, Caracas, Venezuela, altitude about 1,000 meters). 



specimens collected 



1 (^, 1 9 , Cantaura, March 27, 1946; gonads of male enlarged, of female 

 slightly so; iris brown. 



These specimens corroborate the characters given by Zimmer and 

 Phelps for this recently described subspecies. Our two birds are in 

 worn plimaage. 



This tiny woodpecker was fairly common in the dry woods around 

 Cantaura and Caicara, and was recorded February to July, and in 

 November. In spite of its soft tail the bird's actions were distinctly 

 woodpeckerlike, generally climbing about on the small twigs at the 

 ends of the branches. It is a quiet bhd; the collector never heard it 

 utter a sound. 



Family DENDROCOLAPTIDAE: Woodhewers 



DENDROPLEX PICIROSTEIS PHALARA Wetmore 



Dendroplex picirostris phalara Wetmore, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 98, No. 4, 

 1939, p. 4 (El Sombrero, Estado Gudrico, Venezuela), 



specimen collected 



1 cf, Cantaura, February 17, 1945; gonads not enlarged; iris Ught brown, bill 

 brown with a pinkish cast. 



Although this individual is sexed as a male and is said to have small 

 gonads, the collector notes that it has a "very evident brood patch," 

 an indication that the male may do a large part, if not all, the incu- 

 bating. The specimen is in molt, especially in the tail. It was 

 collected in a clump of trees in a bushy field, where it appeared to 

 have been feeding on beetles, the remains of a number of which were 

 found in its gizzard. 



