MELANERPINtE. 
from north to south, flying high above the trees, far apart, propelling themselves, says Mr. Audubon, by reiterated 
flaps of their wings, at the end of each successive curve which they describe in their flight. At the dawn of day the 
whole alight on the tops of the dead trees about the plantations, and remain in search of food until the approach of 
sunset when they again, one after another, mount the air, and continue their journey. The nest is formed in the 
trunk or large branches of a tree. The female deposits on the bare wood generally six eggs. 
1. M. erythrocephalus (Linn.) Swains. PI. enl. 117., Audub. B. 
of Amer. pi. 27- 
2. M. torquatus (Wils.) Pr. Bonap. Amer. Orn. pi. 20. f. 3., 
Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 41 6. f. 7, 8. 
3. M. ruber (Gmel.) Pr. Bonap. Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 421. — 
Picus flaviventris Vicill. 
4. M. rubidieollis (Vieill.) Ois. d’Amer. Sept. t. 117. — Picus 
portoriensis Baud. Mus. d’Hist. Nat. ii. t. 5 1 . 
5. M . formicivorus Swains. — Picus melanopogon Licit t. PI. col, 
451. 
6. M. meropirostris (Wagl.) Pr. Bonap. Syst, Avium, sp. 
Leuconerpes Swains.* 
BUI Ion- and broad at the base, with the crimen gradually sloping, and the sides compressed to the 
tip, which! acute ; the lateral margins curved, and the gonys long and ascending ; the nostrils basal, 
rounded and slightly covered with projecting bristles. Wings long and pointed ; with the first quill 
short, and the third and fourth equal and longest. Tail long and graduated, with the ends of the 
feathers long and pointed. Tarsi short, and covered with transverse scales. Toes unequal, the outer 
pair the longest, and the anterior toe rather longer than the posterior one: the claws large, compressed, 
and acute. 
This species is found in the tropical portions of America. 
L. dommicanus (Vieill) Spix, Av. Bras. t. 50. - Picus Candidas Otto; P. melanopterus Pr. Neuw. ; P. bicolov Swains. Zool. Ill- n 
s. pi. 38. 
* Established in 1837 by Mr. Swainson in his Class, of Birds, ii. p. 310. 
September, 1846. 
