444 PICID^. 



exclusively a Neotropical one, the exceptions being C. principalis of the Southern 

 States of North America, to which may perhaps be added its near allies C. hairdi and 

 C. imperialis, though both are found beyond the boundaries of the United States. 



Of the narrow-necked large-headed Woodpeckers, Campophilus has the nostrils 

 hidden by antrorse bristly feathers, similar plumes extending forwards on the chin over 

 the interraraal angle. The outer (reversed) toe is considerably longer than the middle 

 toe ; the tail is long, the central feathers peculiarly formed, so that the stiffened webs 

 when closely pressed to the stem or branch of a tree assist largely in supporting the 

 bird, the points of the feathers not apparently being used for this purpose and there- 

 fore soft and but slightly worn ; the shafts of these feathers are hollowed out beneath. 

 The head carries a distinct crest, very pronounced in C. imperialis, and the bill is very 

 strong, being wide at its base as compared with its height. 



Of the fourteen known species of the genus four only occur within our limits. The 

 most northern of these is the giant of the whole family, C. imperialis, restricted in its 

 range to the pine-clad heights of the Sierra Madre of North-western Mexico. C. guate- 

 malensis is by far the most widely distributed of our species, and extends from Mazatlan 

 and Tampico to Costa E.ica. The other two species are both of southern connection 

 and do not enter our fauna beyond the limits of the State of Panama. The southern 

 species spread over nearly the whole of the southern continent as far as Paraguay and 

 the Argentine Republic. 



a. Ingens, corpore suhtus omnino nigro. 



1. Oampophilus imperialis. 



Picus imperialis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 140 \ 



Campophilus imperialis, Cab. & HeinCj Mus. Hein. iv. Heft 2, p. 101 ' ; Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. 



Mus. xviii. p. 465 '. 

 Campephilus imperialis, Ridgw. Auk, 1887, p. 161 *. 



Purpureo-niger, interscapulio utrinque albo marginato, stria lata post oculos utrinque ad nucham conjunctis, 



plumis valde elongatis coccineis cum plumis elongatis occipitalibus nigris crista magna formantibus ; 



remigibus quinqne extemis nigris, sexto ad apicem albo, reliquis cum secundariis omnibus exteme albis ; 



rostro ebumeo ; pedibus nigricanti-plumbeis, unguibus corneis. Long, tota circa 22*0, alee 12"5, caudse 



8"0, tarsus 1-8, dig. med. absque ungue 1-45, dig. ext. 1-65. 

 5 mari similis, crista baud ooccinea, sed plumis valde elongatis et recurvatis nigris composita. (Descr. maris efc 



femin^ ex Ciudad in Durango, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Hob. Mexico (Floresi^), Sierra Madre de Sonora {Benson'^), Ciudad in Durango 

 (Forrer), Sierra de Valparaiso ( W. B. Bichardson), Sierra de Juanacatlan, Mascota, 

 Jalisco {Br. A. C. Buller, in mus. Bothschild). 



in these pages, his Catalogue of the Picidae in the British Museum has been of the greatest service to us in our 

 present undertaking. 



