Cofitributions to the Ornithology of India, SfC. 171 



to 1*9; width, 1*4 j closed wings reach to within from I'-i td 

 1"6 of end of tail ; weight, 2 to 2*25 oz. 



Females. — Length, 8 to 8'5 ; wing, 4*4 to 4"7 ; tail, 3 to 3*2 ; 

 expanse, 13*6 to 15; feet, length, 1*8 to 1*9; width, 1*2 to 

 1-5 ; closed wings reach from 1-2 to 1*4 of end of tail ; -weight, 

 1-5 to 2-1 oz. 



This species is not confined to Sindh but extends upwards 

 between the Indus and the Jhelum to the foot of the Hima- 

 layas. It is common in the salt range, and single specimens 

 have been sent from Murdan, Peshawur, and Hazara. The 

 width and color of the frontal band varies a good deal in 

 different individuals ; in width from an eighth to a quarter of an 

 inch, in color from almost perfectly pure white to rufous brown. 

 In the male the whole top of the head from the frontal band 

 backwards to the nape is crimson ; the feathers however are short 

 and the dusky bases, even in the live bird, shew through a good 

 deal. 



? 168 Si's.— Dryocopus martius, L. 



According to the concurrent testimony of many persons in 

 Sindh, an enormous black wood-pecker, with a red head, is 

 found occasionally in certain trees, on the Khelat hills, a little 

 way below the top of Duryalo. This can surely be nothing 

 but the species above indicated. 



i_. 182.— Brachypternus dilutus, Blytli^ J. A. S., 



T\ XIV., 550. 



f 



The golden backed wood-pecker is most abundant in all the 

 many roadside avenues that since Sindh became a British 

 Province have been carefully nurtured in the neighbourhood of 

 every large town and station. In Roree, near Sukkur, Lar- 

 kana, Hyderabad, and Kotree, and a score of other places, I 

 have seen eight or ten in a morning, and I carefully preserved 

 a large series. 



Although for the sake of convenience I have retained Mr. 

 Blyth's specific appellation, my conviction is, not only that the 

 Sindh wood-pecker is in no way entitled to specific separation, 

 but further that it is barely distinguishable as a local race. 



My series of £. aurantius ranges over a considerable tract of 

 country. The specimens are from Raipoor, Dacca, Cachar, Jhan- 

 sie, Etawah, Saharunpoor, the Dhoon, and Gurhwal, and all that 

 can be said for the Sindh birds is that as compared with B. 

 aurantius from the various localities above enumerated, they 

 have, as a body, less of the orange tinge on the back, and have 



