MARIA'S WOODPECKER. 241 



Head large, ovate; neck rather short; body full. Feet very short; tarsus 

 short, compressed, feathered anteriorly about half-way down, with five 

 large scutella in the rest of its extent, scaly and sharp-edged behind; toes 

 four; first small and stout; fourth longest and directed backwards; second 

 and third toe united at the base; all scutellate above. Claws large, much 

 curved, compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 



Plumage very soft, full, and blended. A large tuft of reversed stiffish 

 feathers on each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the 

 nostrils; the feathers in the angle of the lower mandible also stiffish, 

 elongated and directed forwards. Wings rather long; the first quill very 

 small, being only an inch and five-twelfths long, the second half an inch 

 shorter than the third, which is half a twelfth shorter than the fourth, the 

 latter being the longest, and exceeding the fifth by two-twelfths; secondaries 

 broadly rounded. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, of twelve feathers, of 

 which the lateral, which are rounded and unworn, are only an inch and a 

 twelfth long, the next, also unworn, are one inch shorter than the middle, 

 which are pointed but slit, having the shaft broken off at a little distance 

 from the tip, all the rest more or less pointed, and either entire or slit. 



Bill dusky. Iris brown. Feet bluish-grey. The upper parts are black, 

 spotted with white, the lower greyish-white. The tufts of bristly feathers 

 over the nostrils, and in the angle of the lower mandible, are dull yellow; 

 the upper part of the head is scarlet, the forehead and occiput are black; 

 over each eye is a band of white; a black band from the bill to the eye, 

 continued behind it over the auriculars, and joining the black of the hind 

 neck; beneath this black band is one of white, proceeding from the angle of 

 the mouth and curving backwards below the middle of the neck, so as 

 almost to meet its fellow behind; this band is succeeded by another of black, 

 proceeding from the base of the lower mandible, and continuous with the 

 black of the shoulders. All the upper parts may be described as black, 

 tinged with brown behind; the feathers along the middle of the back tipped 

 with white, excepting on the rump; the wing-coverts and quills spotted 

 with the same, there being on the four longest primaries seven spots on the 

 outer, and four on the inner web, on most of the secondaries five on each 

 web, but on the outer quill only one patch on each web, and on the second 

 four spots on the outer and three on the inner web. The four middle tail- 

 feathers are glossy black, the next black on the inner web, and the greater 

 part of the outer toward the base, the rest black only at the base, the two 

 outermost being almost entirely white. The lower parts are white, tinged 

 with grey, and a little red; the sides faintly mottled with dusky grey; lower 

 wing-coverts white, with a dusky patch toward the edge of the wing. 



Length to end of tail 9-^ inches; bill along the ridge 1, along the edge 



Vol. IV. 33 



