PICUS MAHRATTENSIS. 



(THE YELLOW-FRONTED WOODPECKER.) 



Picus mahrattensis, Latham, Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. 31, female (1790); Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, 

 p. 97; J. E. Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. pi. 32 (1830-2); Gould, Cent. Him. Birds, pi. 51 

 (1832) ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1845, p. 196 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 62 (1849) ; Layard 

 et Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. Append, p. 59 (1853); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1854, xiii. p. 448 ; Horsfield & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 674 (1856) ; Malh. 

 Mon. Picida?, i. p. 108, pi. 28. figs. 1-3 (1803); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 275 (1862); 

 Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 426 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 122 (1873) ; Legge, Ibis, 

 1875, p. 283 ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 390 ; Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 58. 



Picus hemasomus, Wagler, Syst. Avium, gen. Picus (female), no. 30 (1827). 



Picus aurocristatus, Tickell, J. A. S. B. 1833, p. 579. 



Dendrocopus mdhrattensis, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1840, p. 212. 



Liopipo mahrattensis, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein. v. p. 44 (1862). 



The Malvratta Woodpecker, The Black-spotted Woodpecker of Europeans. 



Koeralla, Sinhalese; Tatchan-kuruvi, Tarn., lit. "Carpenter-bird." 



Adult mat and fern-ale. Length 6'8 to 7"0 inches; wing 3 - 7 to 3'95; tail 2-5 ; tarsus 07 ; outer ant. toe 055, claw 



i --! raight) 0-33 ; hind toe 00 ; bill to gape T05. Females are usually smaller than males. 

 Iris \ ariable, red or dull red ; bill dusky bluish, culmen and tips dusky ; legs and feet plumbeous, claws darker than toes. 



Male. Forehead, front of crown, lores, and region round eye pale shining yellowish or straw-colour, extending further 

 back in some specimens than in others, and changing on the crown and occiput into pale crimson. Chin, face, 

 and a continued stripe from the ear-coverts down the sides of the hind neck, throat, centre of the chest, and 

 breast white, the ear-coverts slightly dusky in some; sides of neck and chest, down the centre of hind neck, hair- 

 brown, darkening on the upper part of the baek into the brownish black of the upper surface, wings, and tail; 

 feathers of the back with white basal and lateral stripes ; the wing-coverts, quills, and tail with large marginal 

 white spots, taking the form of burs on the inner webs of quills ; the 1st (small) quill with the outer web unspotted ; 

 sides of the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts white, with very wide dark centre-stripes; centre of the breast 

 and belly pale crimson: tail-spots yellowish beneath. The brown of the neck and chest is very pale in some 

 specimens, probably the effect of the sun's rays, as the brown hue in most Woodpeckers is affected by them. 



Female, lias the yellow of the forehead continued over the top of the head to the occiput, which wants the crimson hue : 

 ear-coverts duskier than in male ; sides of the chest and flanks somewhat more covered with brown than in the male. 



Obs. Ceylonese examples seem to be smaller than Indian. An individual in the national collection, from the N.W. 

 Provinces, has the wing considerably above 4 inches. Mr. Ball gives an extensive table of measurements, 

 he. cit., from specimens shot in Chota Xagpur, by which it appears that males there have the wing exceeding 

 4 inches and females from 3-0 to 4-0 inches. The character of the black and white markings is similar in 

 specimens from India and Ceylon. The Burmese race has been separated by Blyth as P. blanfordi, with an 

 expressed doubt, however, as to its being really separable. Mr. Hume does not consider it to be so, and writes, 

 with reference to the alleged greater development of the white markings, that Indian specimens " vary much 

 i,,ii r se. An example from W'ynaad is very dark ; one from Kutch, again, very similar to blanfordi, and one from 

 Sambhur is undistinguishable from Thayetmyo birds ; in the wings there seems to be no appreciable difference." 



Distribution. — This little Woodpecker has a wide distribution in Ceylon, but is, notwithstanding, by no 

 means plentiful, and is rarely met with except by those who explore the wilds of the woods and forests. Mr. 

 Holdsworth says that it is common in the Aripu district. I have procured it in the Magam Pattu and seen it 

 close to the sea at Kirindc ; in the Wellaway Koralc it is also to be found. In the southern and western portions 

 of the island it is not found, as far as I am aware; and I have not seen it in the Trincomalie district, nor 



