140 PICID^E MESOPICUS 



itself is longer than the outer, anterior one. Plumage never barred 

 or spotted above. 



This genus contains eight species, only one of which is found 

 within our limits ; all are confined to the Ethiopian region. 



442. Mesopicus griseocephalus. Olive Woodpecker. 



Picus griseocephalus, Bodd. Tabl. PL En. p. 49 (1783). 



Picus menstruus, Scop. Del. Fl. et Faun. Insubr. ii, p. 39 (1786). 



Picus capensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 430 (1788) ; Grill, K. Vet. Akad. 



Handl. ii, no. 10, p. 44 (1858) [Knysna]. 



Le Pic olive, Levaill. Ois. d'Afr. vi, p. 16, pis. 248, 249 (1808). 

 Dendrobates griseocephalus, Gurney, Ibis, 1864, p. 353 [Natal] ; 



Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 236 (1867). 

 Dendropicus menstruus, Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 191, 812 



(1875-84) ; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 200 [Transvaal] ; Butler, Feilden, 



and Reid, Zool. 1882, p. 208 [Newcastle] . 

 Mesopicus menstruus, Ayres, Ibis, 1876, p. 432 [Lydenburg] . 

 Mesopicus griseocephalus. Hargitt, Ibis, 1883, p. 417 ; id. Cat. B. M. 



xviii, p. 371 (1890); Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 133 (1896) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 



1897, p. 501 [Echowe] ; Woodward Bros. Natal B. p. 105 (1899). 



FIG. 45. Mesopicus griseocephalus. x T V 



Description. Adult male. Forehead, above the eyes, ear- 

 coverts, cheeks and throat slaty ; crown of the head, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts crimson ; back and scapulars golden-olive ; wing- 

 quills dusky, washed externally with olive and with white spots on 

 the inner webs only ; tail-feathers dusky-black ; below, dull olive- 

 grey washed with golden-olive with a tinge of crimson on the breast 

 and with a patch of crimson wash on the middle of the abdomen ; 

 under wing-coverts banded black and white ; tongue long, horny, 

 and barbed at the tip. 



