418 PICID,^. 



In size and general appearance M. rubriventris resembles M. wagleri, and the two 

 birds at one time were confused together. The bright orange of the whole of the 

 feathers surrounding the base of the bill and the narrowness of the white bars of the 

 upper surface readily distinguish M. rubriventris from its more southern ally. The 

 Bonacca Island bird, however, is somewhat intermediate between the two, both in size 

 and colour ; but as the adult has the yellow colouring round the base of the bill, we 

 assign it to M. rubriventris. 



6. Melanerpes anrifrons. 



Picus aurifrons, Wagl. Isis, 1829, p. 512' ; Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 1 (c/. J. f. Orn. 1863, 



p. 55) ^ 



Centuries aurifrons, Cab. J. £. Orn. 1862, p. 323' ; Duges, La Nat. i. p. 139* ; Baird, Brew., & 



Ridgw. N. Am. Birds, ii. p. 557 ' ; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 104 ". 

 Melanerpes aurifrons, Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 177'. 

 Centurus subelegans, Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 109 (nee Consp. Av. i. p. 118) '. 

 Picus ornatus, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 102°. 



Supra niger, dorso et alia albo transfasciatis, uropygio et tectricibus supracaudalibus albis ; capite snmmo griaeo, 

 plaga magna occipitaU rubra, nucha et fronte aureis hac pallidiore, capite antico lateribus et corpore 

 subtns albicantibus ; ventre medio flavo ; tectricibus subalaribus et tibiis nigro transfasciatis, remigibns 

 nigris, fascia lata irregular! alba, rhacbidibus nigris ; eauda nigra, rectrice subexterni ad apicem et in 

 pogonio extemo albo fasciato ; rostro nigro ; pedibus plumbeis. Long, tota circa 9*0, alae 5'5, caudas 3-4, 

 rostri a rictu 1-7, tarsi 0'93, dig. med. absque ungue 0-8, dig. ext. 0-73. (Deser. maris ex Jnlines, 

 Chihuahua, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 

 $ mari similis, sed plaga rubra capitis summi nuUa. 



Hab. N. Ameeica, Texas^. — Mexico^, Julines in Chihuahua {W. Lloyd), Nuevo Laredo, 

 Ceralvo, Hacienda de las Escobas, San Agustin in Nuevo Leon {F. B. Armstrong), 

 Ismiquilpam {Deppe, in Mus. Berol. ^), Sierra above Ciudad Victoria and Soto la 

 Marina in Tamaulipas, Aguas Calientes and Calvillo in Aguas Calieutes {W. B. 

 Bichardson), Silao {mvs. nostr.). Valley of Mexico {mus. nostr.), Morelia 

 {F. I). G.), Guanajuato {Luges*), Santana near Guadalajara {W. Lloyd). 



Wagler's description of this Woodpecker was based on Mexican specimens in the 

 Berlin Museum, which were probably those obtained by Deppe at Ismiquilpam. In 

 North Mexico we now know the bird is by no means rare. Its southward extension 

 reaches to Morelia in the State of Michoacan, and we have a specimen said to have 

 come from the Valley of Mexico, but this is perhaps open to question. On the eastern 

 side it occurs throughout the States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon ; but we have no 

 record of its occurrence in Vera Cruz, its place being taken by a closely allied form. 

 In South Texas it appears to be very common, and has been noticed by all collectors 

 who have written on the birds of that State. Mr. Bennett found it at Lomita, where 

 it was breeding, making its nest-hole in the large hard-wood trees. It also bores into 

 the telegraph-poles in search of larvae. The eggs are of the usual white colour and 

 vary in number from four to six in a nest. 



