406 Mr. E. Hargitt on the Woodpeckers 



given above. He further gives the tail as 2 inches and 

 black above, when it is really 3*5 inches and of an olive- 

 brown colour, narrowly barred with buffy white. He may, 

 perhaps, have had a young bird with a more dusky tail ; but 

 it is curious that he never mentioned the cross bars which 

 are to be seen at every age. The rest of his description, 

 however, leaves no doubt as to the species intended, and 

 I therefore adopt the name of olivaceus, as Gray has 

 done before me. The present species, according to Mr. 

 Layard, is common throughout the Cape Colony, aud^was 

 sent to him from Colesberg. Major Bulger found it near 

 Windvogelberg, and it extends eastwards as far as Natal : 

 Mr. Buckley met with the species near Pietermaritz- 

 burg, and Mr. Ayres procured it on the Mooi river. It is 

 common in Natal, according to Mr. Buckley; and in the 

 upper portions of the same colony extremely so, as is re- 

 corded by Majors Feilden and Butler and Capt. lleid. Major 

 Butler found a nest on the 2nd of August near Newcastle. 

 All observers agree that the habits of this bird are chiefly 

 terrestrial, and that it breeds in holes of banks, sides of hills, 

 walls of mud buildings, and never frequents trees. 



2. Mesopicus. Type. 



Mesopicos, Malh. Mem. Acad. Metz, 



1849, pp. 341, 342 M. goertan. 



Scolecotheres, Eeichenb. Handb. Scans. 



Picinse, p. 427 (1854) M. yriseocephalus. 



Thripias, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv. 



p. 121 (1863) M. namaquus. 



Camponomus, Cab. & Heine, t. c. p. 137, 



note M. pyrrhogaster. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Shafts of quills and of tail-feathers bright yellow or 

 orange-brown above and below. 

 a}. Sinciput black, spotted with white ; hinder crown 

 and occiput red ; colour above and below olive- 

 dusky, narrowly barred with white ; sides of face 

 white. 



