251 



VAR.? 



RED-SPOTTED CREEPER. 



It is hardly possible to suppose that this bird 

 can be any thing more than a mere variety of the 

 immediately preceding ^ from which it differs in 

 the disposition of the red colour, which, instead 

 of forming an uninterrupted longitudinal band, 

 is distributed into four broad, distant patches 

 or spots, viz. one on the crown of the head, an^ 

 other on the back of the neck, a third on the mid- 

 dle of the back, and the fourth on the tail-coverts : 

 the black in this variety is glossed with blue, as in 

 the former bird, and the whole under parts are 

 white. The - specimen described by Edwards was 

 received from Bengal. 



