PICID.E — THE WOODPECKER^?. 



'J'Jt 



Centurus aurifrons. Gray. 



TELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKEB. 



Picus aurifrmis, Waglki:, Isis, 1829, r»12. — Sundevall, (Vmsp. Pic. 53. Ccntums auri- 

 frons, Gray, Genera. — Ca ban is, Jour. 1862, 323. — ('(><»peu, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 399. 

 Centurus flnvivciitrin, Swainson, Aniiu. in Menag. 1838 (2i centenaries), y."i4. — 1»aii:i>, 

 Birds X. Am, 1858, llo, pi. xlii. — Heei;maxx, P. K. Rep. X, c, 18. — Duessei:, Ibis, 

 1865, 469 (resident in Texas). — Ib. Kep. Mex. Bound. II, 5, pi. iv. Centurus cleefuns, 

 Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lye. V, Ma}-, 1851, 116. Centurus santacruzi, Lawrence, 

 Ann, X. Y. Lye. Y, 1851, 123 (not of Bonap.), Picus ormitus. Less, Kev. Zool. 

 1839, 102. 



Sp. Char. Fourth and fifth qnills nearly equal ; third a little shorter ; lonnfer than the 

 fourth. Back banded tran.<ver.^<'ly with black and white ; rump and upper tail-covert.^; 

 pure white. Crown with a subquadrate spot of crimson, about half an inch wide and 

 lonjr; and separated from the fjamboge-yellow at the base of the bill by dir' vhite, 

 from the orbit and occiput by brownish-ash. Nape half-way round the neck .ange- 

 yellow. Lender part generally, and sides of head, dirty white. Middle of belly gamboge- 

 yellow. Tail-feathers all entirely black, except the outer, which has some obscure bars 

 of white. Length about 9.o0 ; wing, 'j.OO. Female without the red of the crown, 



Hab, Rio Grande region of the United States, south into Mexico. Probably Arizona. 

 Localities : Orizaba (Scl. P. Z. S. 18G0, 252) : Texas, south of San Antonio (Dresser, 

 Ibis, 18G5, 409, resident). 



Young birds are not different from adults, except in showing indication of 

 dark shaft-lines beneath, becoming broader behind on the sides. The yel- 

 low of the nape extends over the whole side of the head. 



Habits, This beautiful Woodpecker is abundant throughout the valley 

 of the liio Grande, from Eagle Pass to its mouth ; how far to the west witliin 

 our boundaries it occurs, I am not able to state. It is common throughout 

 Mexico, and was found in the Guatemalan collection of Xaw Patten, though 

 not mentioned by Sclater and Salvin, Dr. Woodliouse, in his IJeport on the 

 zoology of Captain Sitgreaves's expedition, speaks of finding it quite abun- 

 dant in the neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. He adds that west of the 

 Rio San Pedro he did not meet with it. He speaks of it as having a loud, 

 sharp cry, whicli it utters as it flies from tree to tree. He observed it mostly 

 on the trunks of the mesquite {Algarohia), diligently searching in the usual 

 manner of Woodpeckers, In the Eeport upon the birds of the ^lexican 

 Boundary Survey, it is mentioned by Mr, Clark as abundant on the Lower 

 liio Grande, tis very shy, and as keeping chiefly about the mes([uite. Lieu- 

 tenant Couch speaks of it as very common throughout Tamaidipas. 



Mr. Dresser found the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker plentiful from the 

 Kio Grande to San Antonio, and as far north and east as the (iuadaloupe, 

 after whicli he lost sight of it. Wherever the mesquite-trees were large, 

 there it was sure to be found, and very sparingly elsewhere. Near San 

 Antonio it is quite common, but not so much so as the C. corolinus. At 

 Kagle Pass, however, it was the more abundaTit of tlie two. He found it 



