-J- 
638 Mr. F. J, Jackson on Birds 
there are many other examples from Abyssinia which are 
hardly separable. 
The following forms seem to require names : — 
342. Dendkomus pallidus, n. sp. 
$ . Similis D. nuhico, sed notseo toto et alis distincte et 
Isete albidis, vix aureo tinctis transfasciatis^ et gastrsei 
maculis nigris minoribus distinguendus. Long. tot. 7'3, 
culm. 0'9^ alse 4*0;, caudse 2*35, tarsi 0*7. 
Typus in Mus. "Brit, ex Lamu (Jackson) . 
The chief character for the separation of the Lamu Wood- 
pecker is, of course, the complete and regular banding of the 
back and wings ; but there are other characters, viz., the 
larger and closer white spotting on the crown and the much 
smaller number of spots on the under surface, especially on 
the under wing-coverts. The red on the head seems to me to 
be more scarlet than crimson, as is the case with D. nubicus. 
There are three specimens, two females and a male, from 
Lamu, in the British Museum. 
343. Dendromus hargitti^ n. sp. 
$ . Similis D. punctato, sed fronte et vertice antico nigris, 
albo punctulatis minime striolatis, remigum rachidibus 
brunneis nee aureis distinguendus. Long. tot. 78, 
culm. 0*95, alee 4*35, caudse 2*3, tarsi 0'85. 
Typus in Mus. Brit, ex Semmio, Niam-Niam [Bohndorff). 
Dr. Beichenow has made some remarks on African Wood- 
peckers in the ' Monatsbericht ' for 1896 (p. 130). He 
points out that the bird identified by me and by Mr. Hargitt 
as Picus balius is not the true P. balius of Heuglin, which, 
from an examination of the type in Stuttgart, he declares to 
be scarcely separable from P. punctatus Val. The principal 
difference is that the upper surface is not spotted, but clearly 
cross-banded. Such a specimen is in the Museum from 
Senegambia, whence we have also several other individuals 
with spotted backs. I do not think that the banded bird 
can be specifically distinct from P. punctatus, but I believe 
that a large amount of variation in the spotting and banding 
of these African Woodpeckers is to be expected. At all 
events, it is clear that the banded birds are not peculiar to 
