424 PICID^. 



M. uropygialis is a very distinct species with no near allies. The upper tail-coverts 

 are distinctly banded ; there is no nuchal red patch in either sex or colouring on the 

 nasal feathers. 



Its range is restricted to the countries lying on our north-western frontier and 

 Western Mexico, as far south as the sierras of the States of Jalisco and Aguas Calientes. 

 Grayson says that it is found at all seasons of the year in some localities in Western 

 Mexico, but is not abundant. It makes its nest by boring into decayed trees, some- 

 times selecting the stems of palms. In Arizona, according to Dr. Hermann, the giant 

 cactus trees, which reach a height of forty feet, are often riddled with holes made by 

 birds of this species. The pith of the plant is extracted until a chamber of suitable 

 size is formed ; the wounded surface hardens and forms a smooth dry coating to the 

 cavity, and thus a convenient place for incubation is constructed. 



According to Dr. Cooper the food of this Woodpecker largely consists of the berries 

 of mistletoe, but no doubt insects ai'e also eaten in numbers. 



0'' Capitis lotus circum oculos nigro notatus. 



12. Melanerpes elegaus. 



P'lcus elegans, Sw. Phil. Mag. new ser. i. p. 439'; "Wagl. Isis, 1829, p. 514 ''; Pinsch, Abh. nat. 



Ver. Bremen, 1870, p. 356 \ 

 Centurus elegans, Cab. J. f. Orn. 1862, p. 327'; Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 177 ' ; Lawr. Mem. Bost. 



Soc. N. H. ii. p. 294 ^ ; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 114" ; Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. 



p. 399' ; P. Z. S. 1883, p. 425' ; Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. ix. p. 160" ; Stone, 



Pr. Ac. Phil. 1890, p. 218 ". 

 Melanerpes elegans, Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 184 ". 



Supra niger, dorso toto, alls, uropygio, tectricibus supracaudaHbus, rectricibus mediis et duabus subexternis 

 regulariter albo transfaseiatis, pileo toto coccineo, nucha lijete flavo-aurantia, fronte albida, plumis supra 

 nares et area infra oculoa quoque flavo lavatis, oculonira ambitu nigerrimo : subtus fuscus, gula et abdo- 

 mine imo pallidioribus, hoc cum hypochondriis imis et subcaudalibus nigro transfaseiatis, ventre medio 

 flavo ; remigibus externis nigris albo ad basin distincte notatis, apicibus quoque albis, subalaribus albis 

 nigro variegatis ; rostro et pedibus plumbeis. Long, tota circa 8-7, alae 5-1, caudae 3-1, rostri a rictu 1-3, 

 tarsi 09, dig. med. absque uugue 08, dig. ext. 0-7. (Descr. maris ex Dos Arroyos, Guerrero, Mexico. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



5 mari similis, sed pileo toto sordide albo nee coccineo. 



Hah. Mexico, Coast region (Bullock'^), Sonora {Grayson^), Mazatlan {Grayson^, 

 Forrer), Santiago, San Bias, Tepic {W. B. Richardson), Tuxpan in the Terr, de 

 Tepic [Dr. A. C. Buller, in Mus. Bothschild), Beltran, Hacienda de San Marcos 

 {fV. Lloyd), Plains of Colima (Xantus), La Playa V. de Jorullo {Baker ^^), 

 Acapulco {Mus. Berol.'^, A. H. Markham ^, Mrs. H. E. Smith), Dos Arroyos {Mrs. H. 

 H. Smith), Guadalajara {Grayson^), Matamoros Izucar 1°, Epatlan {Ferrari- 

 Perez). 



This pretty Woodpecker was first described by Swainson in 1827, from a specimen 



