486 SYSTE3IA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PICAEI^ —PICIFORMES. 
446. S. va'rius. (Lat. varius, variegated. Fig. 33G.) Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. ^: 
Crown crimson, bordered all around with black ; cliin, throat, and breast black, enclosing a large 
crimson patch on the former (in the $ ; in the 9 tiiis patch white) ; sides of head with a white 
line starting from the nasal feathers and dividing the black of the throat from a trans-ocular 
black stripe, this separated from the black of the crown by a white post-ocular stiipe ; all these 
stripes frequently yellowish. Under parts dingy yellow, brownish and with sagittate dusky 
marks on the sides. Back variegated wath black and yellowish. Wings black with a large 
oblique white bar on the coverts; the quills with numerous paired white spots on the edges 
of both webs. Tail black, most of the feathers white-edged, the inner webs of the middle pair, 
and the upper coverts, mostly white. Bill 
brownish ; feet greenish-plumbeous ; iris 
browm. Young birds lack the definite 
black areas of the head and breast, and the 
crimson throat-patch, these parts being 
mottled gray ; but in any plumage the bird 
recognized by its yellowness, different 
from what is seen in any other Eastern 
species, and the broad white wing-bar, to 
say nothing of the generic characters. 
Length 8.25-8.75 ; extent 15.00-16.00 ; 
wing 4.80-5.20; tail 3.50. Eastern N. 
Am., abundant in most U. S. localities, 
resident in the South, migratory northerly ; 
N. to 61° at least; AY. to Dakota; S. into 
Central Am. and AY. I. The hyoid bones 
are the shortest of those of any N. Am. 
species ; the tongue is protrusible only about -J inch beyond bill. Eggs 4-6, about 0.95 X 0.70. 
447. s. V. nucha'lis. (Lat. nuchalis, pertaining to nucha, the nape; not classic.) Nuchal AA^ood- 
pecker. Like the last ; with an additional band of scarlet on the nape (wliere the white is 
seldom even tinged with red in S. mrius) ; red throat-patch invading the surrounding black, and 
9 with this patch at least in part red ; all the yellowish variegation very pale, almost white on 
the belly (where varius is yellowest) ; bill slaty-black (not bnjwnish). Size of varius. Rocky 
Mt. region, U. S., abundant. In S. varius 
the red rarely spreads on the nape, and the 
9 seldom has any on the throat. In S. 
nuchalis this extension of red is a step 
which culminates in S. ruher. 
448. S. V. ru'ber. (Lat. ruber, red.) Eed- 
breasted Woodpecker. Like the last, 
but whole head, neck, and breast carmine- 
red, in both sexes, in which the markings 
of varius are more or less completely dis- 
solved, though usually traceable ; gray in 
the young. Size of the last. Pacific coast 
region, U. S. A remarkable extreme, long 
supposed to be perfectly distinct ; now 
known to intergrade in every degree with 
nuchalis. 
449. S. thyroii^des. (Gr. dvpeocibrjs, thureoeides, shield-lil 
resemblance ; alluding to the black plastron of the 9 • 
Fig. 336. — Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, n.it. size 
nat. del. E. C.) 
(Ad 
Fi(i. 337. — Brown-headed Woodpecker (9), nat. 
(Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
size. 
; 6vpc6s, thureos, a shield : eiBos, 
Figs. 337, 338.) Brown-headed 
