486 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PICARIJS —PICIFOEMES. 



446. S. va^rius. (Lat. varius, variegated. Fig. 336.) Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. $: 

 Crown crimscjn, bordered all around with black ; cliin, throat, and breast black, enclosing a largo 

 crimson patch on the former (in the ^ ; in the ? this patch white) ; sides of head with a white 

 line starting from the nasal feathers and dividing the black of the throat from a trans-ocular 

 black stripe, this separated from the black of the crown by a white pivst-ocular stiljie ; all these 

 stripes frequently yellowish. Under pai-ts dingy yellow, brownish and with sagittate dusky 

 marks on the sides. Back variegated with black and yellowish. Wings black with a large 

 obhque white bar on the coverts ; the quills with numerous paired white spots on the edges 

 of both webs. T.ail black, most of the feathers white-edged, the inner webs of the middle pair, 



and the upper coverts, mostly white. Bill 

 brownish; feet greenish-jjlumbeous ; iris 

 brown. Young birds lack the definite 

 black areas of the head and breast, and the 

 crimson throat-patch, these parts being 

 mottled gray ; but in an)' plumage the bird 

 is recognized by its yellowness, drflerent 

 froiji wliat is seen in any other Eastern 

 species, and the broad white wing-bar, to 

 say nothing of the generic characters. 

 Length 8.25-S.7.5 ; extent 1.5.00-10.00 ; 

 wing 4.80-5.20; tail 3.50. Eastern N. 

 Am., abundant in most U. S. localities, 

 resident in tlic Snnth, migratory northerly ; 

 N. t.. 01° at least; W. to Dakota; S. into 

 Central Am. and W. I. The hyoid bones 

 are the shortest of those of any N. Am. 

 species : the tongue is protrusible only about -J- inch beyond bill. Eggs i-G, about 0.95 X 0.70. 



447. s. v. nucha'lis. (Lat. nuehalis, pertaining to nucha, the nape; not classic.) Nuchal Wood- 

 pecker. Lilic the last ; with an additi(.)nal band of scarlet on the nape (where tlie white is 

 seldom even tinged with red in S. varius) ; red throat-patch invading the surrounding black, and 

 9 with this patch at least in part red ; all the yellowish variegation very jiale, almost white on 

 the belly (where vanus is yellowest) ; bill slaty-Uack (not brownisli). Size oU-arhis. Rocky 

 Mt. region, U. S., abundant. In S. varius 



the red rarely spreads on the nape, and the 

 9 seldom has any on the throat. In S. 

 nucJialis this extension of red is a step 

 which culminates in S. ruber. 



448. S. V. ru'ber. (Lat. niher, red.) Eed- 

 beeasted Woodpecker. Like the last, 

 but whole heail, neck, and breast canuine- 

 red, in both sexes, in which the markings 

 of varius are more or less completely dis- 

 solved, though usually traceable ; gray in 

 the young. Size of the last. Pircific coast 

 region, U. S. A remarkable extreme, long 

 supposed to be perfectly distinct ; now 

 known to intergrade in every degree with 

 nuehalis. 



449. S. thyroi'des. (C4r. evpeoetS^s, thureoeides, shield-like ; 6iipe6s, thnreo: 

 resemblance ; alluding to the black plastron of the ? . Figs. 337, 338.) 



Fig. .336. —Yellow-bellied "Woodpecker, ii:it, size. 

 n.at. del. E. C.) 



(Ad 



— Brown-headed Woodpecker ( 9 ), nat. size. 

 E. C.) 



a shield ; eiSos, 

 Brown-headed 



