302 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 565 



THE PTERYLOGRAPHY OF THE PILEATED 

 WOODPECKER {GEOPHLOEVS PJLEATUS). 



BY HUBERT LYMAN CLARK, PITTSBURG, PA. 



A recent examination of a pair of Pileated Wood- 

 peckers [Ceophloeus pileatus) from West Virginia showed 

 that in several important particulars this species differs 

 in its pterylosis from any of the plates which have been 

 published hitherto, illustrating Picine pterylography. 

 So far as I can learn the pterylosis of Ceophloeus has 

 never been described, or at any rate figured, and so I 

 venture to offer this contribution to a little known 

 branch of ornithology. Nitzsch has figured, in his "Sys- 

 tem der Pterylographie, " Picus viridis, and Dr. R. W. 

 Shufeldt has figured and de.scribed (^ufc, April, 1888) 

 Dry abates V. harrisii and Sjyhyrapicus V. nuchalis; but I 

 have seen no other illustrations of the Pici. I have ex- 

 amined Dryohates pubescens, Centurus caroliniensis and Col- 

 aptes auratus, but Ceophloeus differs from all these in 

 several ways. A comparison of Fig. i with the figvire 

 of P. viridis (Sys. Pter., Plate V, Fig. 14) shows two 

 very important differences; one of these is on the chin 

 and lower mandible, the other is at the opposite end of 

 the body near the anus. The whole lower surface of 

 the hfead in P. viridis seems to be fully feathered, while 

 in Ceophloeus there are very distinct apteria along the 



Fig. I. — Ventral Surface of Pileated Woodpecker CCeophloeus pileatiis). 



rami of the lower mandible and on the cheeks. These 

 apteria are not shown in any of Dr. Shufeldt's figures, 

 nor have I observed them in any other woodpecker ; but 

 they are very evident in both sexes of Ceophloeus. Fig. 

 3 shows them nearly natttral size; a, the apteria of the 

 rami, and 6, the apteria of the cheeks; the same in Fig. 

 I, a and b. Nitzsch says, in regard to apteria on the 

 head, after mentioning the temporal space (see Fig. i, c) 

 and the vertical space (Fig. 2, d), "Die iibrige Kop- 

 flache ist dicht befiedert," but he seems to have been 

 wrong. According to the same writer, in P. viridis, the 



main branches of the pt. ventralis continue beyond the 

 vent, including it, to the very base of the rectrices ; but 

 in Ceophloeus they curve abruptly inward and end just 

 before reaching the anus, while behind the latter is a 

 horse-shoe shaped tract (Fig. i, e) which is also shown 

 in Dr. Shufeldt's figure of B. v. harrisii and to which he 

 gives the name of "post-ventral tract" (pt. postventra- 

 lis). This tract is found in all the four genera of wood- 

 peckers which I have examined, but Nitzsch does not 

 speak of it, although he gives P. auratus and P. carolinus 

 as among the species he studied. It seems to be want- 

 ing in Sphyrapicus, as it is not shown in Dr. Shufeldt's 

 figure of that species. The remainder of the ventral 



Fig:. 2. — Dorsal Surface. Pileated Woodpecker (Ceophloeus pileatus). 



surface of Ceophloeus agrees very well with that of P. 

 viridis, especially in the connections of the pt. ventralis 

 with the pt. humeralis and pt. alaris forming the trian- 

 gular apterium shown at/. Fig. i. 



On the dorsal surface Ceophloeus agrees with P. 

 viridis more nearly than with any other species. The 

 onl)' differences of note are in the humeral tracts and at 

 the extreme end of the dorsal tract. According to 

 Nitzsch's plate, the humeral tracts are much broader 

 anteriorly, but in Ceophloeus (Fig. 2, g) they consist of 

 four rows of contour feathers throughout, and so are of 

 equal width at the ends. In P. viridis the dorsal tract 

 is of greater width at its end on the oil-gland than it is 

 further forward, while in Ceophloeus it is much nar- 

 rower there (Fig. 2, h). The dorsal surface in Colaptes 

 is on much the same plan, but the tracts are broader, 



