492 
SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PICABI^ — PICIFOBMES. 
Analysis of Species. 
Red moustaches in ; no red on nape in cf 9 5 wings and tail orange-red underneath; cap lilac-brown; 
throat ashy ; no yellow on belly ; back umber-brown (Western) mexicanus 459 
(Mixed in every degree with) 
Black moustaches in (f ; red nuchal crescent in cf ; wings and tail golden-yellow underneath; cap ashy; 
throat lilac-brown ; yellow on belly ; back olive-brown (Eastern) auratus 457 
(Not mixed with) 
Red moustaches in ; no red on nape in 9 ; wings and tail golden-yellow underneath ; cap lilac-brown ; 
throat ashy ; yellow on belly ; back umber-brown (Southwestern) chrysdides 458 
Fig. 345 — Golden-winged Woodpecker, ^ nat. size. (From Brehm.) 
Obs. It will be noted, how curiously these species are distinguished mainly by a different 
combination of common characters. — Colaptes ayresi Aud., C. hyhridus Baird, C. aurato- 
mexicanus Sundevall, is a form from the Missouri and Rocky Mt. regions in which the charac- 
ters of mexicanus and auratus are blended in every conceivable degree in different specimens. 
Perhaps it is a hybrid, and perhaps it is a transitional form, and doubtless there arc no such 
things as species in Nature. Easterfi specimens of auratus sometimes show red touches in the 
black maxillary patch, as is frequently the case with Kansas examples. In the West, you 
