PldD^E. 315 



dible. Nostrils large, oval, only partially protected by setaceous feathers. Head not 

 crested ; neck thick. Wings lengthened, obliquely pointed. Tail feathers not lanceolate, 

 as in the other genera, but with the inner shaft broader and suddenly contracting towards the 

 tip, so as to form a deep sinus or notch. Feet rather weak ; the tarsus rather longer than 

 the posterior outer toe and claw, which is shorter than the anterior. Claws slender. — Sw. 



Dimensions 

 Of the male. 





Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



Length, total . 



13 



6 



Length of bill to rictus 



. 1 



n 



Length of outer hind toe 







9 



,, of tail 



. 7 



2 



„ of tarsus . , 



1 



H 



„ of its nail 



. 



4f 



„ of wing 



. 6 



6 



„ of middle toe . 



. 1 







,, of inner hind toe 







4 



„ of bill above 



1 



6 



,, of middle nail 







5| 



„ of its nail 



. 



3 



[107.] 2. Colaptes Mexicanus. (Swains.) Red-shafted Woodpecker. 



Genus, Colaptes, Swains. Sub-genus, (Typical form,) Swatns. 

 Colaptes Mexicanus. Swains. Syn. {Phil. Mag., June, 1827), No. 84.* 

 Colaptes collaris. Vigors, Zool. Journ., xv., January, 1829, p. 354. 



This species inhabits Mexico, New California, and the coast of the Pacific for 

 some distance to the northward of the Columbia River. A specimen, killed to 

 the westward of the Rocky Mountains, was presented by Mr. David Douglas, j" 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen, killed by Mr. Douglas on the banks of the Columbia. 



Colour. — Dorsal plumage a shade darker than that of the preceding species, and, toge- 

 ther with the white rump and tail coverts, similarly marked : quill feathers blackish-brown, 

 edged at the tip with brownish-white, their shafts, and indeed those of almost the whole 

 plumage, as well as the insides of the wings and under surface of the tail, reddish-orange. 

 Tail above pitch-black, the exterior pair of feathers minutely tipped with white : shafts of 

 the central pair brownish, of the others reddish-orange for two-thirds of their length. 

 Maxillary stripe arterial blood-red ; the rest of the under plumage vinaceous, with a black 

 gorget on the breast and round spots elsewhere, as in the C. auratus. — Form of the preceding 

 species. 



* It is highly probable that this is the var. A. of Dr. Latham's Gold-winged Woodpecker {Gen. Syn., ii., p. 599), 

 which, upon erroneous information, is described as having been brought from the Cape of Cood Hope. Gmelin copied 

 this account, and named the bird Picus Cafer ; which name is transferred into the Index Orn. M. Wagler, without 

 having seen the species or knowing its real habitat, changes the name into Picus Lalhami (Syst. Avium, Picus 85). 

 Previous, however, to the appearance of this latter work, we had already defined the species, and published it under 

 the above name. Near two years after this, Mr. Vigors imagined it was new to science, and gave a very good descrip- 

 tion of it under the name of collaris, without apparently being aware of its previous scientific history, or of our prior 

 denomination. — Sw. 



\ Only one species of this group has yet been found in Africa ; it is the Pic Laboureur of Le Vaillant, described by 

 Mr. Burchell, in his Travels, under the specific name of terrestris, — a prior designation to that of arator, of which 

 M. Cuvier was not aware. Mr. Burchell very judiciously considers it the type of a sub-genus, named by him, in his 

 MSS., Geocolaptes. — Sw. 



2 S 2 



