Mr. E, Hargitt on the Genus Gecinus. 29 



black, those on the abdomen and vent smaller and somewhat 

 V-shaped, and very faint on the latter part ; the flanks and 

 thighs barred with black; under tail-coverts Avhite, barred 

 with black ; under wing-coverts white, with varied spots and 

 transverse markings of dusky black ; axillaries white, with a 

 blackish shaft-stripe. Wing 4"96 inches. 



The male nestling of G. sharpii may be distinguished from 

 that of G. viridis by its having the face slaty grey, slightly 

 tinged anteriorly with greenish, striped and spotted with dull 

 white (this in G. viridis being yellowish white, striped with 

 black) ; the supercilium unspotted ; the sides of the fore 

 neck and chest greyer; the spots upon the underparts less 

 transverse, being diamond- shaped, heart-shaped, and V- 

 shaped, except on the flanks and thighs, which are barred as 

 in G. viridis; the upper tail-coverts not barred. 



Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having the 

 malar stripe entirely black ; the lores less black ; the tail 

 nearly uniform, the barring showing most on the penultimate 

 feather, the others with only a few faint greyish spots ; the 

 rump strongly tinged with red. Total length 11-5 inches, 

 culmen \7o, wing 6"15, tail 3'6, tarsus (impossible to 

 measure) . 



The tarsi and feet of this specimen (apparently an ex- 

 tremely old bird) very much diseased, and could not be 

 accurately measured. 



This species, first described by Mr. Howard Saunders in 

 1872, is a close ally of our own Green Woodpecker, but may 

 be readily distinguished from the latter by its grey face, and 

 in having the red malar patch not bordered with black. 

 According to Mr. Saunders the present bird seems to be 

 found throughout that portion of Spain south of the Guad- 

 arrama, and possibly extending to the valley of the Ebro. He 

 procured specimens from Valencia, Granada, Andalucia, and 

 Castille. Lord Lilford found it plentiful about Aranjuez, and 

 also about the Casa de Campo, near Madrid, but he did not 

 meet with it north of the Guadarrama range. Lieut. -Col. Irby 

 obtained this species in the Goto del Rey, also in the Goto de 

 Donana, near Seville. Mr. Ghapman (Ibis, 1884, p. 78), in 



