PICIU.K- TIIK WOODI'KCKKIW. 553 



mon, and Mr. Dresser luund several nests in lui<,fe cottonwood-trees, Imt luul 

 no means nl' j^ettin^' to tlieni. 



Mr. J. K. Lord assij^ns tn tliis species a wide western range, buinj; ennunon 

 both east and west of the Cascades, iind on tlie west slope of tiie llocky 

 Mountains. He met with it north as far as Fort Itiipcrt in \'uncouver 

 Island, and south tiirough Orej^on and California. He found them at Col- 

 ville durinif the winter. He states that they nest in May, generally in a 

 tall dead pine-tree, at a great iieight. 



For my first specimens of tiie eggs of this sjiecies I aiu under ohligations 

 to Dr. (Jornelius Kollock, of Ciieraw, S. C. They wen; olitained l)y him 

 from excavations made in large trees at the height of al)out twenty-live feet 

 from the ground, and in localities at no great distance from tiie inhabited 

 parts of the country. 



The eggs of this species I'rom South Carolina and Florida are of a very 

 brilliant crystalline whiteness, of a rounded-oval shape, and measure 1.2") 

 inches in length by 1.02 in breadth. Xorthern specimens are probalily 

 larger. 



'o"- 



Section CENTURE>E. 



The United States genera of this section are very similar to each other, 

 and may be most easily distinguished by color, as follows : — 



Centurus. Back ami wiiifjs banded transversely with Mack and white. Crown more 

 or less red; vc»t of head with under parts jirayish, .and with red or yellow tinge on the 

 middle of the abdomen. Ilnmp white. 



Melanerpes. TTp()er parts unilbrm l)lack, without bands, with or without a while 

 rump ; variable beneath, but without transverse bands. 



Genus CENTURUS, Swainson. 



Centuriis, Sw. Cla,ss. Birds, II, 1837, 310. (Type, 0. caroKmm.) 

 Zebrapims, Mai.h. Hum. Acad. Metz, 184H, 3fl0. (Typo, 0. airnHiiiis.) 



Gkn. CirAH. Bill about the length of the head, or a little longer ; decidedly compressed. 

 except at the extreme base. A lateral ridge starting a little below the eulmen at the base 

 of the bill, and angular for half the length of the bill, then becoming obsolete, thougii 

 tracealile nearly to the tip. Culmen considerably curved from the base ; gouys ncaily 

 straight. Nostrils very broad, elliptical ; situated about midway on the side of tli(.' man- 

 dible, near the base ; partly con<'ealed. Outer pairs of toes unequal, the anterior toe 

 longest. Wings long, broad ; third to fifth primaries ei|ual and longest. Tail-feathers 

 rather narrow, stifTened. 



Tlie species are all banded above transversely with black and white ; the 

 rump white. The hsad and under parts arc l)rown, or grayisli, tlie latter 

 sometimes much the lighter. Tiie belly with a red or yellow tinge. The 

 under tail-coverts with V-shaped dark marks. The Nortli American species 

 of Centurus may be arranged as follows : — 



voi,. 11. 70 



