BIRDS—PICIDAE-CENTURUS CAROLINUS. 
109 
CENTURUS CAROLINUS, Bon. 
Red-bellied Woodpecker 
Picus carolinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 17GG, 174. —Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 113 ; pi. vii, f. 2. — Aud. Orn. Biog. 
V, 1839, 169 ; pi. 415.— Ib. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 270 ; pi. 270. 
Cenlurus carolinus, Sw. Bp. List, 1838 .—Ib. Conspectus, av. 1850, 119. 
Centurus carolinensis, Sw. Birds, II, 1837, 310 ; (error.) 
Picus griseus, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52 ; pi. cxvi. 
? Picus erythrauchen, Wagler, Syst. Avium, 1827 
Picus zebra, Bodd^rt, Tabl. pi. enl. (Gray, genera.) 
Sp. Ch.—T hird, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, and longest ; second and seventh about equal. Top of the head and 
nape crimson red. Forehead whitish, strongly tinged with light red, a shade of which is also seen on the cheek, still 
stronger on the middle of the belly. Under parts brownish white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly. Back, rump, 
and wing coverts banded black and white ; upper tail covert white, with occasional blotches. Tail feathers black ; first trans¬ 
versely banded with white ; second less so ; all the rest with whitish tips. Inner feathers banded with white on the inner web ; 
the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle. Length 9| inches ; wing about 5. 
Female with the crown ashy ; forehead pale red ; nape bright red. 
Hab. —North America, from Atlantic coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. 
The quills are all tipped and edged with white, and have a white spot near their base. The 
white hands on the hack are about one-tenth of an inch wide ; the black nearly twice as large. 
The under tail coverts are white, streaked with black. The red of the crown becomes rather 
lighter on the nape, where there is sometimes a slight indication of yellowish. 
Specimens vary in the depth of color of the red on the belly and its extent. The chin is 
sometimes tinged with red. 
A specimen from Fort Thorn does not differ appreciably, except in being a little smaller, and 
the belly of rather a brighter red. All the western I have seen have the belly more red than 
eastern ones. 
I do not find any difference in eastern and Missouri specimens, except that none before me 
from Pennsylvania show so much red as do western ones. 
A skin from Amelia island, (4924) Florida, is considerably smaller than more northern ones, 
the wing measuring barely 5 inches. It differs a little in having the white bands above nar¬ 
rower than usual, the black ones being at least three times the white instead of only twice. I 
am unable to detect any other difference however. Occasionally the breast is tinged with 
reddish. 
Centurus subelegans, a small species of red bellied woodpecker from Mexico and Lower 
California, (1257) is quite a miniature of C. carolinus , the wing measuring only 4| inches, the 
body about 8. The band across the base of the bill is of a purer white ; the white bands of 
the back narrower ; the rump and upper tail coverts more spotted ; the white stripe on the 
outer web of the inner tail feather broken up into blotches. The tibial feathers and under tail 
coverts are strongly banded transversely. The fourth quill is longest; the third and fifth a 
little shorter. 
