212 LIEUT. R. W. RAMSAY ON A NEW WOODPECKER. [Apr. 21, 



much greater, probably caused by the presence of spring and the 

 increasing heat. 



August 1st. — The bird has not shown any remarkable changes of 

 any sort since last notes were made. 



September 1st. — Escaped from confinement about a fortnight ago, 

 and, though pinioned, managed to get lost down a steep hill-side 

 covered with pine-forest. He was ultimately, after a week's absence, 

 caught and brought back by a villager, who found him sitting in a 

 ploughed field at some distance from the hill he had escaped down. 

 I fear the bird has received some injury during this escapade, as he 

 pines and often refuses his food, and seems weaker, and smaller almost, 

 than he used to be. His plumage has fallen off and become more 

 draggled during the past two or three months. I partly attribute 

 this to moulting, and partly to confinement being more irksome in 

 the summer than in the winter months. 



4. Description of a new Species of Woodpecker from British 

 Burmah. By Lieutenant R. Wardlaw Ramsay, F.Z.S. 



[Received April 1, 1874.] 



(Plate XXXV.) 



The following is the description of what appears to me to be an 

 entirely new species of Woodpecker. I obtained examples of both 

 sexes in a teak-forest, about six miles to the north of Tonghoo, in 

 British Burmah. 



Gecintjs erythropygius, n. sp. (Plate XXXV.) 



Male. Head, sides of face, ear-coverts, and occipital crest black, 

 with a red patch on the crown ; a superciliary streak running from 

 the top of the eye to the nape whitish, but gradually blending into 

 the yellow of the neck. 



Throat, neck, and upper part of breast yellow, with a green tinge 

 throughout. Back, wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts green ; 

 lower back and rump bright crimson, with some of the feathers green 

 at the base. 



Quill-feathers brown, the outer web of the primaries slightly suf- 

 fused with green, and the outer web of the secondaries wholly green 

 on the upper surface. Each feather with eight or nine white spots 

 on either web. 



Tail dark brown, with one or two white spots at the base of the 

 feathers. Two centre feathers margined green on both webs. Whole 

 under surface dusky white, each feather with two faint scale-sbaped 

 brown lines, which are broader and more distinct on the thighs and 

 lower tail-coverts. Lower wing-coverts white, with two irregular 

 brown bars across each feather, and edged pale green. 



The female differs from the male in having the head entirely 

 black, and by wanting the superciliary streak. The markings of the 

 wings and underparts are also less boldly defined. 



