126 PICID^: GEOCOLAPTES 



Genus I. GEOCOLAPTES. 



Type. 

 Geocolaptes, Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 



315 (1831) G. olivaceus. 



Bill stout and strong with no nasal shelf, culmen slightly curved ; 

 nostrils more or less concealed by the nasal bristles ; wing rounded, 

 primaries short, only exceeding the secondaries by about half the 

 length of the culmen ; tarsus long and strong, slightly exceeding the 

 outer posterior toe, which is shorter than the outer anterior toe ; 

 tail spiny, short and stiff with brown shafts. This genus contains 

 only one species, of terrestrial habits, confined to South Africa. 



435. Geocolaptes olivaceus. Ground Woodpecker. 



Picus olivaceus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 431 (1788). 



Le Pic Laboureur, Levaill. Ois. d'Afr. vi, p. 27, pis. 254, 255 (1808). 



Picus terrestris, Burchell, Travels, i, p. 245 (1822). 



Geocolaptes arator, P. L. Sclater, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 22 [Windvogelberg] . 



Colaptes olivaceus, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 239 (1867). 



Geocolaptes olivaceus, Gurney, Ibis, 1868, p. 462 [Mooi river] ; Buckley, 



Ibis, 1874, p. 368 [Transvaal] ; Sharpe, ed. Layards B. S. Afr. pp. 



187, 812 (1875-84) ; Butler, Feilden, and Reid, Zool. 1882, p. 208 



[Upper Natal] ; Hargitt, Ibis, 1883, p. 403 ; Symonds, Ibis, 1887, p. 



330 [Kroonstad] ; Hargitt, Cat. B. M. xviii, p. 9 (1890) ; Shelley, B. 



Afr. i, p. 130 (1896) ; Woodward Bros. Natal B. p. 103 (1899). 



Description. Adult male. Above, olive-brown, the feathers 

 crossed with narrow white bars which are more conspicuous on the 

 wings ; crown, nape and sides of the head including the ear-coverts 

 ashy-grey ; primary quills dusky barred with dull white ; rump 

 washed with crimson ; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers olive 

 barred with dull white, pointed and tipped with a reddish tinge ; 

 throat dull white bordered on either side by a malar stripe of grey 

 feathers with crimson tips, breast dull olive washed with crimson, 

 most strongly on the lower portion ; abdomen, thighs and lower 

 tail-coverts olive barred with dull white ; tail-feathers below, strongly 

 washed with golden-yellow. 



Iris white, sometimes with tinge of yellow or red ; bill black ; 

 legs and feet black or ashy. 



Length about 11-5 ; wing 5-2 ; tail 3-6 ; tarsus O92 ; culmen 1-5. 



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