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BRACHYPTERNUS PUNCTICOLLIS 
(THE SOUTHERN GOLDEN BACKED WOODPECKER) 
* \ 
ADULT MALE 
Length 10.3 to 10.75 Inches; wing 5.3 to 5.5; tail 3.5; tarsus .8; outer 
anterior toe .8, Its olaw (straight) .45; outer posterior toe .7; bill to 
i 
gap« 1.4 to 1.56. 
FEMALE 
Wing 5.1 to 5.35 inches. 
DISTRIBUTION 
The pale race of this Woodpecker Inhabits the Jaffna peninsular and the 
adjacent coasts down to Manaar; further South it oecurs, but less plentifully 
to Puttalam, although specimens appear to be generally tinged with orange 
In the latter district; on the East coast It Is found as far South as Trin- 
comalie, but it is not at all common on that side of the island. I have 
noticed a golden backed Woodpecker South of Kottlar Bay, but I am not able 
to say to which race it belonged. In the forests the orange bird is found 
common at Anuradhapura, and throughout the seven Korales down to the putta¬ 
lam district, where Mr Parker has seen It in the jungles near Uswewa. I 
fully expected to find it in the jungles of the Eastern Province, out did 
not succeed, although I was shewn a specimen by the late Dr Gould, whlcn he 
had procured In the Park country while on a trip to that part of Ceylon. 
I think I may safely say that directly this species enters the shady fo¬ 
rests of Ceylon it alters its colouration, assuming the orange hue; no pale 
backed bird has ever, to ray knowledge, been shot In the interior, and no 
orange one at Jaffna. 
In Ramisserum Island the Southern Golden Backed Woodpecker appears to be 
very common. My native collector brought me a series of specimens from-it, 
and said it was abundant there. 
HABITS 
This handsome species frequents, on the sea coast and In the maritime 
districts, cocoanut and palmyra groves, native gardens, compounds, and scat¬ 
tered jungle In the vicinity of forests, w ile in the interior it is found 
throughout the fprests, affecting the heaviest timber and the densest jungle 
It has the same jerky flight and a similar loud note of alarm as the last 
species, and usually consorts In pairs, which do not keep close company, but 
generally follow each other about, sometimes working on the same tree, out 
