214 



Catalogue of the Birds 



circle; bill homy above, yellowish at the base and beneath; feet green- 

 ish slaty. Length nearly 12 inches J of wing 5-2^ ths j tail 3f ; bill to 

 front 1-pVtlis J at gape i^^ihs. 

 In the female the head is black where it is red in the male. 



211.—^. mentalis.—Picus mentalis, Temm. P. C. 384? (Griff. 



Cuv. p. 444).— P. chlorolophus, VieilL, Encyl. Meth., young bird ?—2?erf 



and Yellow-crested Woodpecker. 

 The brief description in Griffith's Cuvier of the P. mentalis of 



Temminck, appears applicable to specimens I have obtained from the 



western coast, with the exception that the throat is not black. 



It is a rare bird. I have only seen it on two or three occasions, so- 

 litary in thick forest jungle in Travancore and Malabar. It is also 

 mentioned in Mr. Elliot's Catalogue. However I shall here add a 

 brief description. Head and cheek stripe red, a short occipital crest 

 of same colour terminated by bright yellow : plumage above bright 

 green ; beneath dull sap green ; the feathers banded and spotted with 

 white. Wings greenish, with a strong orange tinge ; and the external 

 barb of most of the quill feathers of a deep orange red, internally 

 dusky, with white spots j tail unspotted black j bill slaty, greenish be- 

 neath; legs sap green. Irides reddish brown. Length 9 — 9§ inches? 

 wing 4yVtbs; tail 3-pyhs; bill to front to^QLths; at gape \-^\\h, 

 One specimen, probably the female, ditfers in having the forehead and 

 head green, instead of red, and wants the red cheek stripe. The 

 P. chlorolophus of Vieillot is probably the young bird, or it may be the 

 female. The colouring of this species somewhat resembles that of the 

 P, Nepalensis of Gray, figured in Hardwicke's 111. of Ind. Zool. 



212. — B. Bengalensis.—~P. Bengalensis^ Auct. — P. aurantius, Auct. 

 (bad description).— P. nuchalis, Wagler. — Brack, hemipodius, Swains. — 

 P. chrysonotus, Lesson ? — Orange and black Woodpecker, 



This is perhaps the best known of all the peninsular species, and is 

 found wherever there is plenty of wood or high jungle, and even in 

 groves and gardens in the vicinity of well wooded towns, as I have seen 

 in the Northern Circars and Carnatic. On the bare table land, I have 

 not yet observed it, but it is tolerably plentiful on the west coasts and 

 in the wooded regions on the summit of the ghauts. It is generally 

 seen single or in pairs. From its extensive distribution over India, it 

 would be advisable to change its local name, either to the structural 

 name of Swainson, or the one lately proposed by Wagler. 



Irides crimson ; bill blackish; legs plumbeous. Length nearly 12 

 inches; wing 5:^} tail 3 j bill to fiont ly^ths ; at gape 1 /o-ths. 



