178 LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. 



Head of moderate size, ovate ; neck rather short ; body fall. Feet 

 very short ; tarsus very short, feathered anteriorly more than one-third 

 down, in the rest of its extent covered with a few large scutella, com- 

 pressed, sharp-edged and internally with small scutella behind ; toes 

 four, first toe small, fourth rather longer than the third, second and 

 third united at the base ; all scutellate above ; claws large, much 

 curved, compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 



Plumage full, soft, blended, glossy above, rude beneath. A tuft of 

 reversed stiff feathers on each side at the base of the upper mandible ; the 

 feathers in the angle of the lower mandible also stiff. Wings long, the 

 first quill very small, being only an inch and a half in length ; the second 

 ten-twelfths shorter than the third, which is a twelfth and a half shorter 

 than the fourth, the fifth longest, being a twelfth and a half longer than 

 the fourth ; secondaries broadly rounded. Tail of moderate length, very 

 strong, of ten feathers, all of which are pointed and slit, the shaft ter- 

 minating abruptly, the lateral feathers ten and a half twelfths shorter 

 than the middle. 



Bill dusky, bluish-grey toward the base. Feet bluish-grey. The 

 general colour of the upper parts is black, highly glossed with green ; 

 a band across the forehead, the throat, and a broad patch on the side 

 of the head, surrounding the eye deep carmine or blood-red; beyond 

 this the throat and part of the sides of the neck black ; a band of dull 

 white runs over the hind neck, and is continuous anteriorly with a large 

 patch of reddish- white occupying the fore neck and part of the breast, the 

 rest of the breast and the sides are rose-red, becoming of a deeper tint 

 backwards ; the lower, wing-coverts, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts 

 black. 



Length to end of tail 11 inches ; bill along the ridge 1^^ ; wing 

 from flexure 7i 2 ; tail 4^ ; tarsus V^^^ ; hind toe |^, its claw -f^ ; second 

 toe i'^^, its claw ^^ ; third toe ^|, its claw || ; fourth toe J|, its claw y^^. 



Adult Female. Plate CCCCXVI. Fig. 8. 



The Female resembles the male, being scarcely distinguishable by 

 her slightly duller tints, and the less extent of the red on the fore part 

 of the head. A yoimg bird obtained in September, has the bill quite 

 pointed, the red on the head scarcely apparent, that on the lower parts 

 intermixed with greyish-white, the fore part of the neck dull grey, and 

 the white ring on the hind neck wanting ; many of the feathers there, 

 however, having one or two white spots near the end. 



■Mi 



