436 Mr. E. Hargitt oti the Woodpeckers 



Asthenurus minutus, Less. Compl. BuflF, ix. p. 302 (1837). 

 Dendropicos minutus, Malh. Mem. Acad. Metz, 1849_, 

 p. 339. 



Dendrobates minutus, Bp. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 125 (1850); 

 Hartl. J. f. O. 1854, p. 199. 



Campethera miimta, Reiclienb. Handb. Scans. Picinse, 

 p. 425, pi. dclxxiv. fig. 4463 (1854). 



Dendropicus minutus, Bp. Consp. Volucr. Zygod. p. 9 

 (1854) ; Hartl. Orn. W.Afr. p. 177 (1857) ; iMalh. Monogr. 

 Picid. i. p. 208, pi. xlv. figs. 4, 5 (1861) ; Hartl. J. f. O. 1861, 

 p. 263. 



Ipoctonus minutus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv. p. 114 

 (1863). 



Male. Of small size. Above greyish dusky, the back not 

 very conspicuously banded with white and dusky, somewhat 

 washed with buff; underneath ashy whitish, with small 

 rounded dusky spots ; occiput, rump, and upper tail-coverts 

 scarlet ; tail-feathers and quills dusky, spotted with whitish 

 in the form of bars ; shafts bright yellow ; bill and feet 

 blackish lead-colour. Total length about 4" 4"', wing 2" 9i"', 

 tail 1" 5'", bill from front 6|'", tarsus 5|"'. {Heuglin.) 



Female. Head uniform ashy ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 slightly banded with smoky brown and whitish, {Heuglin.) 



I have never seen a specimen of this species, and have 

 been obliged to transcribe Heuglin^s description. He has 

 described Gambian examples; and I may here remark that 

 the bird in the British Museum from Senegal {Dendropicus 

 minutus, Gray, List Picidaj Brit. Mus. p. 66; id, Hand-1. B. 

 ii. p. 190. no, 8656) is certainly not the true D. minutus. It 

 appears to me to be very closely allied to D. hemprichi, if, 

 indeed, it is not that species. D. hemprichi has, however, 

 not as yet been recorded from Western Africa ; and the speci- 

 men in question differs from Abyssinian examples to this 

 extent, that the striping of the underparts is of a rufes- 

 cent character. Whether this is an individual variation, 

 due to the bleaching of the specimen, I am unable to say 

 from an examination of a single individual, as it is just 

 possible that D. hemprichii may have a rufous-striped repre- 

 sentative on the W. coast of Africa. 



