COLAPTES A VRA TVS. 231 



the birds as they sat near the nests, without their paying the slightest attention to me. 

 In the first instance, the nest was quite low, not over ten feet from the ground but I have 

 taken the eggs from the lofty limb of a buttonwood, sixty- feet high. 



The Red-headed Woodpeckers begin to drill the holes for their nests in early May but 

 the full complement of eggs is not deposited until June. The young leave the nest about 

 the first dl' August and, as related, accompany their parents for some time. At this sea- 

 son, they resort to the gum trees in great numbers in order to feed upon the acid berries 

 which grow in profusion but they also eat large quantities of insects and, like the Yellow- 

 bellies, are quite expert flycatchers. Most of the Red-headed Woodpeckers leave Penn- 

 sylvania about the last of October but a few remain all winter. 



GENUS IV. COLAPTES. THE SPOTTED WOODPECKERS. 



<!I:N. Cn. Sternum, not Iwiceca wide as the height of the keel. Marginal indentations, deep, allbeing equal in depth to 

 the In i'jlit lift In' ki : < 1. Posterior border of sternum, emarginate. Manubrium, quite large. Terminal hook of scapula, round- 

 ed on the ujijirr and lower sides. Tongue, provided with a long, extensible sheath, and the cerato-hycls are greatly elongated 

 and, intending around the back of the skull and over the top of it, enter the right nostril. Proventriculus, large. Stomach, 

 muscular. Salivary glands, well developed. Both mandibles, curved. 



Members of fliis genus are usually marked on the occiput with scarlet and are transversely banded above and spotted 

 bcluw. The tail feathers arc quite acuminate. The hind toe exceeds one half the length of the outer which is projected 

 backward. There is but one species within our limits. 



COLAPTES AURATUS. 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker. 



Colaptes auratus SWAINSON, Zool. Jour.. Ill; 1827, 353. 



Colaplcs AfczicanujSwAixsoN, Syn. Mex. birrls in Philos. Mag., [; 1827, 440. 



Colaptes hybridus BAIRD, Birds N. A.; 1858, 122. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si>. Cn. Form, robust. Size, large. Sternum, stout. Tongue, long, not very thin, and horny at the tip which is 

 provided with barbs for one third of the terminal portion. The extensible sheath occupies about one half the length of the 

 tongue. The salivary glands are large, flat, somewhat triangular in form, and measure about 2'40 in length by '30 in width 

 at the base; the ducts are at the terminal extremity and open under the tongue. Thereare no laryngeal muscles, excepting 

 the sterno-trachealis which is stout. The tympanifonn membrane is present and although there is an os transversale, yet 

 it does not support a semilunar membrane. The cesophagus is without dilatation and opens into a very large, globular pro- 

 ventrk'tilus which measures about '70 in external diameter. The gastric glands are rather numerous, not simple, being o- 

 val in form with four small protuberances emerging nt equal intervals from the central circumference. They only occupy the 

 lower portion of the proventriculus and are packed on a surface which is triangular in form, with the base which measures 

 about "80 in width, toward the oesophagus and the apex which is -75 from the base, toward the stomach. Thus the upper 

 portion of the proventriculus is destitute of glands but is provided with a mucus membrane. The stomach Ls rather flat in 

 form with very muscular walls that measure '30 in thickness. The lining membrane is soft, similar to that which covers 

 the proventriculus. The fold of the duodenum is quite long and rather twisted, inclosing a pancreas which is wide and of 

 irregular form. The spleen is an elliptical body lying partly on the proventriculus und partly over the pyloric opening of 

 the stomach. The left lobe of the liver is more than one half as large as the right. 



COLOR. Adult male. Head and nape, slaty-ash. Back and wings, excepting primaries, yellowish-ash, transversely 

 barred with dark-brown. Primaries and tail, dark-brown; the former, slightly barred on the outer and inner webs, the lat- 

 ter on the outer webs of extreme outer, and the inner webs of central pair, with yellowish-ash. Shaft of wing feathers and 

 upper tail coverts, under wing coverts and axillaries, under sides of wings and tail, excepting tip, bright golden-yellow. 

 Sides of head and entire under parts, including under tail coverts, reddish-ash, lightest anteriorly. Patch on check, broad 

 crescent on breast, round spots on under side of body back of breast and on under tail coverts, black. There is a band of 



