“Specimens were exhibited of a species of Woodpecker hitherto undescribed, which has recently been obtained by Mr. Gould, from that little explored district of California which borders the territory of Mexico. The exhibition was accompanied by a communication from Mr. Gould, in which, after some general remarks on the Picidæ and their geographical distribution, he referred to the species before the Committee as possessing the characters of the genus Picus in their most marked development, together with the greatest size hitherto observed in that group. In this respect it as far exceeds the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the United States Picus principalis, as the latter does the Picus martius of Europe.
“This species is readily distinguishable from the P. principalis, by its much larger size, by the length of its occipital crest, the pendent silky feathers of which measure nearly four inches, by the absence of the white stripe which ornaments the neck of that bird, and by the bristles which cover its nostrils being black, whereas those of the Picus principalis are white.”
These notices comprise, at present, all that is known of the largest and one of the handsomest of Woodpeckers. Its history, yet to be written, will be a highly interesting contribution to the ornithology of the United States.
Several specimens of this bird, in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, are stated on their labels to be from Mexico, without other note or indication. All of them were obtained in Europe by our distinguished patrons, Messrs. Thomas B. and Edward Wilson.
The adult male is represented in the present plate. The female differs essentially only in having the crest black instead of scarlet.
DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Genus Dryotomus. Swainson. Lardner’s Cyclopedia, Birds, II., p. 308. (1837.)
Size large; bill straight, long, wide at base, very strong; wings long, third and fourth quills usually longest; tail long, graduated, rigid; legs short; tarsi distinctly scaled; toes rather long, outer hind toe longest, claws strong, compressed; feathers of the head behind elongated and crest-like; colors generally black, white, and scarlet; contains species of both the old and new world, amongst which are the largest of the Picidæ.
Dryotomus imperialis. (Gould.) Picus imperialis. Gould. Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1832, p. 140.
Form. The largest of Woodpeckers; bill long, wide at base, three distinct ridges on the upper mandible; wing long, primaries narrow, third and fourth longest; tail rather long, graduated, middle feathers longest; all the feathers of the tail narrow, rigid; tarsi moderate, strong, scales in front very distinct; toes long, claws strong, curved, compressed; general organization very strong; crest-like feathers long.