BIRDS. 
113 
2. CoNURUS PATACHONICUS. 
Psittacus Patagonus, Vieill. Ency. Meth. p. 
Psittacara Patagonica, Less* Yoy. de la Coquille Zool. pi. 35 bis. 
Psittacara Pataclionica, Lear's 111. Psitt. 
Le Patagon, Azara , No. 277. 
Pattagonian maccaw, Lath. Hist. 11, 105. 
I obtained specimens of this bird at Bahia Blanca in Northern Patagonia, 
where there is not a single tree, and the country is dry and very sterile. I did 
not meet with this species in the southern parts of Patagonia, but it is common 
near Concepcion in Chile, in nearly the same latitude. They build their nests in 
holes in cliffs of earth or gravel, together with the Hirundo cyanoleuca. In 
September, at Bahia Blanca, they were laying : their eggs are quite white, and 
small in proportion to the bird. Several usually rush forth from their holes at 
the same instant, and utter a noisy scream. 
Picus kingii. G. JR. Gray. 
Picus melanocephalus, King, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1830, p. 14. 
I procured specimens at Valparaiso, and at the Peninsula of Tres Montes 
(Lat. 46° S.) At the latter place, I killed in January a pair, male and female. 
Captain King’s specimens were obtained from Chiloe. The male has its whole 
head scarlet with only the nape black, so that Captain King’s specific name 
is unfortunately not applicable for the species ; therefore Mr. G. R. Gray thinks 
it should be named after the first describer. The head of the female is black, 
with some short reddish-brown feathers over nostrils. There appears to be no 
other difference in the plumage of the sexes. 
Chrysoptilus campestris. Swains. 
Picus campestris, Licht. Cat. p. Spix, Av. Br. pi. 116. 
Le charpentier des champs, Azara , No. 253. 
My specimens were obtained from Banda Oriental and Buenos Ayres; I saw 
it no further southward. Spix says (Birds of Brazil, vol. i. p. 51.) it inhabits 
Minas Geraes. They frequent open plains and especially rocky ground. They 
are rather wild, and generally live three or four together. The tail of these ground 
woodpeckers seems but little used ; their beaks, however, were generally muddy 
to the base : in the stomach of one I found only ants. Their flight is undulatory 
like that of the English woodpecker, and their loud cry is likewise similar, but 
Q 
