MICROPTERXUS. 57 



984. Micropternus brachyurus. The Malay Rufous Woodpecker. 



Picus brachyurus, Vieill. Nouv. Did. d'Hist. Nat. xxvi, p. 103 (1818). 

 Picus badius, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii, p. 289 (1822). 

 Micropternus badius, Blyth, J. A.S. B. xiv, p. 194 ; id. Cat. p. 61 : 



Horsf. $ M. Cat. ii, p. 066 ; Hume, S. F. in. p. 319. 

 Micropternus brachyurus, Hume, S. F. v, p. 481 ; id. Cat. no. 178 



bis ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, p. 145 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 58 ; 



Hargitt, Ibis, 1885, p. 10 ; id. Cat. B. M. xviii, p. 396. 



This is very similar to M. phceoceps, but distinguished by being 

 smaller, by the crown not being as a rule darker than the back, 

 by the central portions of the pale-edged feathers of the chin, 

 throat, and malar region being much darker than the breast, and 

 by the black bars on the upper surface, and especially on the lower 

 plumage, being more developed, and those on the tail-feathers 

 broader. Most Tenasserim birds, except from south of Tavoy, are 

 intermediate between M. brachyurus and M. phceoceps. 



Length about 8 ; tail 2-3 ; wing 4'5 ; tarsus '85 ; bill from 

 gape 1. 



Distribution. The Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java, ex- 

 tending north into Tenasserim, where this Woodpecker appears to 

 pass into M. phceoceps. 



985. Micropternus gularis. The Malabar Rufous Woodpecker. 



Picus (Micropternus) gularis, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. xiii, pt. 2, 

 p. 139 (1844). 



Micropternus gularis, Blyth, J. A.S. B. xv, p. 17 ; id. Cat. p. 61 ; 

 Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 294; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 297; Holdsicorth, 

 P. Z. S. 1872, p. 428 ; Hume, S. F. i, p. 434 ; v, p. 481 ; id. Cat. 

 no. 179 ; Blanf. Ibis, 1874, p. 92 ; Fairbank, S. F. iv, pp. 255, 

 265 ; Laird, S. F. vii, p. 470 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 200 ; Vidal, 

 S. F. ix, p. 53 ; Davison, S. F. x, p. 356 ; id. Ibis, 1885, p. 331 ; 

 Hargitt, Ibis, 1885, p. 7 ; id. Cat. B. M. xviii, p. 399 ; Barnes, 

 Birds Bom. p. 118; Davidson, Jour. Bomb. N. H. Soc. vi, p. 335. 



Phaiopicos jerdonii, Malh. Rev. Mag. Zool. 1849, p. 535 ; id. Picidce, 



naiopicos i< 

 ii, p. 3, pi. 



xlvii. 



Coloration and sexual distinctions similar to those of the two 

 preceding species, except that the feathers of the chin and throat 

 which, as in M. brachyurus, are darker, except on their whitish 

 edges, than the breast-feathers, are confined to a tract in the 

 middle of the throat and do not extend to the malar region. 

 The head is usually dusky above, as in M. phceoceps. Upper parts 

 generally barred with black, lower parts seldom barred in adults, 

 the flanks alone showing some traces of barring. 



Length 9 ; tail 2-75 ; wing 4'75 ; tarsus '9 ; bill from gape 1*2. 



Distribution. Ceylon, and the forest tracts near the Malabar 

 coast, both below and above the Ghats, as far north as the 

 neighbourhood of Bombay. 



Habits, $c. Similar to those of M. phceoceps ; this species has 

 been observed by several writers to feed on ants, and both Davison 



