PICIDtE — THE WOODPECKERS. 
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or less red ; rest of head with under parts grayish, and with red or yellow tinge on the 
middle of the abdomen. Rump white. Iris red. (Page 101.) 
Melanerpes. Upper parts uniform black, without bands, with or without a white 
rump ; variable beneath, but without transverse bands. Iris brown, except in M. for - 
micivorus. (Page 101.) 
Genus CENTURUS, Swainson. (Page 100.) 
C. carolinus. Middle of belly reddish ; whole crown and nape red in male. 
Nape, only, red in female. 
Forehead reddish ; beneath soiled ashy-white ; abdomen pinkish-red ; 
crissum with sagittate marks of dusky. Wing, 5.25 ; tail, 3.80 ; bill, 
1.30. Hab. Eastern Province United States. (. Red-bellied Wood - 
pecker.) .......... var. car olinus. 
C. aurifrons. Middle of belly yellowish ; red of crown, in male, confined 
to an ovpid vertical patch. Nape and forehead gamboge-yellow ; white of 
rump and upper tail-coverts immaculate. Female without any red on the 
crown. 
Inner webs of middle tail-feathers unvariegated black. Lower parts 
dirty ashy-whitish, abdomen dilute gamboge-yellow. Wing, 5.20 ; tail, 
3.60 ; bill, 1.50. Hab. Eastern Mexico, north to the Rio Grande. 
( Yellow-bellied W oodpecker.) ...... var. a u r ifrons. 
C. uropygialis. Middle of the belly yellowish. Nape and forehead soft 
smoky grayish-brown. Female without red or yellow on head. White of 
rump and upper tail-coverts with transverse dusky bars. Inner webs of 
middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Wing, 5.30 ; tail, 3.70 ; bill, 1.35. 
Hab. Western Mexico, north into Colorado, region of Middle Province of 
United States. ( Gila Woodpecker.) 
™ Genus MELANERPES, Swainson. (Page 101.) 
A. Sexes similar. Young very different from the adult. 
M. torquatus. Feathers of the lower parts, as well as of frontal, lateral, 
and under portions of the head, with the fibres bristle-like. ( Asyndesmus , 
Coues.) Upper parts wholly uniform, continuous, very metallic blackish- 
green. Adult. Forehead, lores, cheeks, and chin deep crimson, of a burnt- 
carmine tint; jugulum, breast, and a ring entirely around the nape, grayish- 
W'hite ; abdomen light carmine. Back glossed with purplish-bronze. Young 
without the red of the head, and lacking the grayish nuchal collar ; abdomen 
only tinged with red, no purple or bronze tints above. Iris reddish-brown. 
Length, 10.50 ; wing, 6.70; tail, 4.50. Hab. Western Province of the United 
States, from the Black Hills to the Pacific. ( Lewis Woodpecker.) 
M. erytlirocephalus. Feathers generally soft, blended ; those of the whole 
head and neck with stiffened and bristle-like fibres in the adult. Secondaries, 
rump, and upper tail-coverts, with whole lower parts from the neck, con- 
tinuous pure white. ..Two lateral tail-feathers tipped with white. Adult. 
Whole head and neck bright venous-crimson or blood-red, with a black 
convex posterior border across the jugulum ; back, wings, and tail glossy 
blue-black. Young. Head and neck grayish, streaked with dusky ; back 
and scapulars grayish, spotted with black ; secondaries with two or three 
black bands ; breast tinged with grayish, and w r ith sparse dusky streaks. 
