IYNGIPICUS HARDWICKII. 



Hardwicke's Pyg*my Woodpecker. 



Picus moluccemis (nee Gmelin), Gray, in Hardw. Illustr. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 33. figs, a, b (1830-32). — Blyth, Journ. 



As. Soc. Beng. xiv. p. 197 (1845). 

 Picus (Dendrocopus) hardwickii, Jerd. Madras Journ. xiii. p. 138 (1844). 

 Picus hardwickii, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xv. p. 15 (1846). — Gray, Gen. B. iii. App. p. 21 (1849). — Bp. Consp. 



i. p. 136 (1850). 

 Picus cinereigula, Malherbe, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1849, p. 531. — Bp. Consp. i. p. 136 (1850). — Reichenb. Handb. 



Scansorise, Picinee, p. 373 (1854). 

 Picus variegatus (nee Wagl.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 64 (1849). 

 Yungipicus variegatus (nee Wagl.), Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. E.I. Co. Mus. ii. p. 675 (1854). 

 Yungipicus hardwickii, Bp. Consp. Volucr. Zygod. p. 8 (1854). — Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 278 (1862). — Blyth, Ibis, 1866, 



p. 354. — Jerd. Ibis, 1872, p. 8. — Butler, Str. Feathers, 1876, p. 36 — Fairbank, torn. cit. p. 255. 

 Yungipicus nanus (nee Vigors), Ball, Str. F. 1874, p. 390. — Hume, Str. F. 1875, p. 60. — Butler, Cat. B. Scinde 



&c. p. 18 (1879).— Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 87.— Butler, Cat. B. of the S. portion of Bombay Pres. 



1880, p. 22. 

 Iyngipicus hardwickii, Hargitt, Ibis, 1882, p. 45. 



Belonging to the section of the genus Iyngipicus in which the species have the two central tail-feathers 

 spotted with white, the present bird is further distinguished by its very pale-coloured head ; this is uniform 

 pale umber or fulvous brown, the occiput and nape being perfectly uniform with the crown. Dr. Jerdon 

 observes : — " This little Woodpecker is generally spread throughout the plains of India from the extreme south 

 to the north-west provinces; it is found both in the open spaces of forest jungle, in thin tree jungle, and 

 not unfrequently in wooded districts in groves, gardens, and avenues. It frequents the branches of trees 

 chiefly, both large and small ; and, though it often climbs, it also frequently hops about from branch to 

 branch, picking up various small insects and larvae." 



Major Butler says that it " occurs sparingly along the Sahyadri range as for north as Khandala, and that it 

 has been obtained at Mahabaleshwar, Savant-vadi, Ratnagiri, in the Goa forests, and on the hills west of 

 Belgaum." Mr. Blanford has procured it in the Godaveri valley; and specimens from Kamptee in the 

 Central provinces are in Dr. Hinde's collection in the British Museum, which also contains a specimen from 

 Behar obtained by Mr. Hodgson. 



The pair of birds figured in the Plate were lent to me, the male by Mr. Hargitt, the female by Captain 



Wardlaw Ramsay. 



[R. B. S.] 



