54 BIRDS OF BRITISH BUR M AH. 



red ; f orehead, crown, nape and occipital crest deep crimson ; hind neck 

 mottled with black and white ; back, scapulars, wing-coverts and tertiaries 

 shining golden yellow, the edges of the feathers of a deeper colour ; lower 

 back and rump crimson ; upper tail-coverts and tail black ; primary- coverts 

 and primaries blackish, the inner webs of the latter with white spots; 

 secondaries chiefly golden yellow on the outer webs, brown barred with 

 white on the inner ; lores dusky ; a white streak from the eye over the 

 ear-coverts, another one from the lores under the eyes and ear-coverts ; 

 two black stripes, one from the gape and another from the side of the 

 gonys, uniting and running down the side of the throat, the space between 

 these two lines white; chin and throat white with a narrow mesial 

 black line ; ear-coverts black ; fore neck white, the feathers edged with 

 black ; lower plumage fulvous -white, each feather edged with black, the 

 edgings becoming less distinct on the abdomen and more broken on 

 the vent and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts white barred with 

 brown. 



The female differs in having the forehead, crown, nape and occipital 

 crest black, each feather with a round white spot at the tip. 



Iris pinkish yellow ; eyelids dark slaty brown ; bill bluish brown ; legs 

 greenish blue ; claws horn-colour. 



Length 13 inches, tail 4*5, wing 6'4, tarsus 1-2, bill from gape 2*2. The 

 female is of about the same size. These are the dimensions of an average 

 Burmese bird. 



It does not seem possible to separate this form of Woodpecker into three 

 or even two species. Birds from all parts are alike in coloration, and 

 nothing but size is left for their separation. Mr. Hume has worked out 

 the question of size so carefully that I prefer to adopt his figures, the more 

 as he has had a much larger series of birds under observation than I have 

 been able to examine. Beginning with the Malay peninsula, Mr. Hume 

 records the lengths of the wings of two male birds, the only two apparently 

 obtained in that part, as 6'15 and 6*3 inches respectively. He gives the 

 wings of Burmese birds as varying from 6*08 to 6*7 inches, and those of 

 the Northern-Indian birds (the true C. sultaneus) as from 6'7 to 7'45 inches. 

 The Southern-Indian birds have wings varying from 5*85 to 6*3 inches. 

 The bills of all vary in much the same ratio as the wings. This bird 

 exhibits all those variations in size which are displayed in Dissemurus 

 paradiseus (vol. i. p. 225) ; and the only satisfactory way of dealing with 

 such birds appears to me to be to unite all the races, large and small, under 

 one name. 



The Golden-backed Woodpecker is found over every portion of British 

 Burmah, except on the higher mountains. 



It extends north through the Indo-Burmese countries into India, and is 

 spread over the greater part of that peninsula. To the south it is found in 



