A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Plate CCCCXVI. Fig. 5. Male. Fig. 6. Female.

Male with the upper part of the head and hind neck light greyish-brown; forehead and a band over the eye dull red; sides and fore part of neck ash-grey, with an oblong patch of bright carmine on each side of the throat; back, scapulars, and secondaries light reddish-brown, transversely spotted with black; rump white; upper tail-coverts black, barred with white; primaries blackish-brown, tail-feathers black, their shafts vermilion; lower parts reddish-white, spotted with black, of which there is a semilunar patch on the fore part of the breast; lower wing-coverts, and inner webs of quills of roseate tints; lower surface of quills and tail-feathers orange-red, inclining to vermilion, the tail black toward the end.

Male, 13¹/₂, wing, 6¹⁰/₁₂. Female, 13.

Rocky Mountains, Columbia River, and northward to the Saskatchewan. Abundant. Migratory.

Colaptes mexicanus, Swains. Synop. Birds of Mex. Phil. Mag. N. 84.

Colaptes mexicanus, Red-shafted Woodpecker, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 315.

Red-shafted Woodpecker, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 603.

Red-shafted Woodpecker, Picus mexicanus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 314.

FAMILY XXVII. CUCULINÆ. CUCKOOS.

Bill long or of moderate length, broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end, straight or somewhat arched; upper mandible with the dorsal line convex or arched, the ridge indistinct, the sides convex, the edges arched, sharp, without notch, the tip decurved; lower mandible with the angle rather short, the dorsal line straight or decurved, the ridge thin, the sides erect or convex, the tip slightly decurved, acute. Nostrils basal, oblong, generally marginate. Head of moderate size; neck of ordinary length; body rather slender. Feet of moderate length; tarsus with broad scutella; toes long, slender, flat beneath, outer directed outwards or backwards. Claws long or of moderate length, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage blended; wings generally long, with the first quill short, the third and fourth longest. Tail long, of ten feathers; upper mandible very narrow beneath, with three longitudinal ridges; tongue slender, emarginate, and papillate at the base, the tip horny, thin, lacerated, and slit; œsophagus rather wide, without dilatation; stomach large, round, with the muscular coat very thin, the epithelium soft, rugous; intestine of moderate length and width; cœca long, oblong, narrowed at the base. Trachea simple, with a single very slender pair of inferior laryngeal muscles.

GENUS I. COCCYZUS, Vieill. AMERICAN CUCKOO.

Bill of moderate length, rather slender, somewhat arched, much compressed, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line arched, the ridge rounded, the sides erect toward the end, the edges thin, direct, the tip narrow, decurved; lower mandible with the angle of moderate length, rather wider, the dorsal line decurved toward the end, the sides nearly erect, the edges decurved, the tip narrow; the nostrils small, oblong, operculate. Eyelids bare, except at the margin. Head rather small; neck of moderate length; body slender. Feet rather short; tarsus compressed, rather stout, with seven very broad scutella; toes slender, compressed, anterior united at the base, first small. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage soft and blended, somewhat compact on the back. Wings of moderate length, with the first quill very short, the third and fourth longest. Tail very long, cuneate or graduated.