Order III. SCANSORES. 
Family 111. Pioiive. 
The fifth Subfamily, 
MELANERPINiE, or Black Woodpeckers, 
have the Bill more or less long, compressed, and the lateral ridge placed nearly half-way between the 
culmen and lateral margins. 
Centurus Swains.* 
Bill more or less long, and rather slender, with the culmen gradually curved, and the sides compressed 
to the tip, which is acute ; the lateral margins slightly curved, and the gonys long and angular; the 
nostrils basal, rounded, and the opening partly covered by projecting plumes. Wings long and pointed ; 
with the first quill very short, and the fourth and fifth the longest. Tail rather long, and with the ends 
of the feathers pointed. Tarsi short, and covered with transverse scales. Toes unequal ; the outer pair 
the longest, and equal: the claws long, compressed, and acute. 
It is in both North and South America that these birds are found singly on the decayed trees of the forests, and 
occasionally in orchards or open fields. They are expert climbers, moving about the trunks and horizontal branches of 
the trees with equal facility in all directions, searching for larvae and perfect insects. Their note is “ chow,’ rapidly 
repeated, and reminded Wilson of the barking of a little lapdog. They form their nests in the decayed or solid 
trunks of trees; the female deposits five eggs, and the young generally climb to the upper branches of the trees before 
they are able to fly, and are there fed by the parents until they can provide for themselves. 
1 
2 . — 
chen 
B. of 
2 . 
597. 
3. 
Sept, 
4. 
5. 
C. carolinus (Linn.) PI. enl. 692., Wils. Amer, Orn. pi. 7- f. 
Picus griseus Vieill. Ois. d’Amer. Sept. t. 11 6 . ; P. erythrau- 
Wagl. ; Centurus carolinensis Swains. ; P. zebra Bodd. Audub. 
Amer. pi. 415. f. 3. 
C. radiolatus (Wagl.) Edwards’s Birds, pi. 244., PI. enl. 
C. striatus (Bodd.) PI. enl. 281. cSr 614., Vieill. Ois. d’Amer. 
t. 14. 
C .flaviventris Swains. Two Cent, and a Quart, p. 354. 
C. rubriventris Swains. Two Cent, and a Quart, p. 354. 
6. C. elegans Swains. 
7. C. suttelegans Pr. Bonap. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837- p. 109- 
8. C. Santa Cruzi Pr. Bonap. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837. p. 11 6 . 
9. C. fiavifrons (Vieill.) Swains. Spix, Av. Bras. t. 25. f. 2. — 
Type of Tripsurus Swains. (1837). 
10. C. hirundinaceus (Gmel.) PI. enl. 694. f. 2 P. rubrifrons 
Spix, Av. Br. t. 55. f. 2. 
11. C, rubrifrons Spix, Av. Br. t. 55. f. 1. 
12. C. chlorolophos (Vieill.) N. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 78. 
* Established by Mr. Swainson in 1837 (Class, of Birds, n. p. 310.). 
It embraces Tripsurus of Mr. Swainson (1837). 
