72 



PICID^E. 



Genus THEIPONAX, Cab. & Heine, 1863. 



This genus is structurally very similar to HemilopTius, except 

 that it has a well-marked nuchal crest, and that the feathers of 

 the head are of the ordinary texture. The bill is not quite so 

 long as in HemilopTius, and the nasal ridge is farther from the 

 culmen, though still nearer to it, at the base of the bill, than to 

 the commissure. The plumage in Thriponax is chiefly black, in 

 most species with some white on the body ; the cap and a malar 

 patch are red in males, in females of all Indian species the 

 occiput and nape retain the red colour. 



The genus occurs in Malabar, throughout Burma and the 

 Malay countries, in the Philippines, and Korea. There are four 

 Indian species. 



Key to the Species. 



<i. Rump white. 



a'. Primaries black throughout, or nearly so .... T. hodgsoni, p. 72. 



b'. Basal half of inner webs of primaries white . . T. feddeni, p. 73. 

 b. Rump black. 



c'. Abdomen white T.javensis, p. 74. 



d'. No white in plumage T. hodgii, p. 75. 



Fig. 19. Head of T. Jiodgsoni. 



997. Thriponax hodgsoni. The Malabar Great Black 

 Woodpecker. 



Hemilophus hodgsonii, Jerdon, Madr. Jour, xi, p. 215, pi. ii (1840) ; 

 Blyth, Cat. j>. 55. 



Picus hodgsonii, Jerdon, 111. 2nd. Orn. pi. v. 



Mulleripicus hodgsoni, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 284. 



Thriponax hodgsoni, Hume, S. F. iii, p. 67 ; id. Cat. no. 169 ; Hume 

 8f Bourdillon, 8. F. iv, p. 390 ; Butler, S. F. ix, p. 386 ; Davison, 

 S. F. x, p. 355; McGregor, ibid. p. 437; Hargitt, Ibis, 1885, 

 p. 150 ; id. Cat. B. M. xviii, p. 503; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 116; 

 Davidson, Jour. Bomb. N. H. Soc. vi, p. 335. 



The Great Black Woodpecker, Jerdon. 



