GREAT SLATY WOODPECKER.
- Picus pulverulentus Temminck, Pl. Col. (1826), 389.
- Hemilophus pulverulentus Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 18, 494.
- Alophonerpes pulverulentus Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 230.
- Mulleripicus pulverulentus McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 66.
Balabac (Everett); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White). Sumatra, Cochin China, Malay Peninsula, Burmese provinces, northwestern India, Java, Borneo, Himalayas.
Adult male.—Blackish slate, abdomen and crissum lighter; feathers of crown, occiput, neck, sides of neck, and breast with small gray tips producing a spotted appearance, most pronounced on occiput and neck; on malar region below each eye a large patch of light crimson; chin and throat saffron-yellow, washed with pink or light red on the posterior part. Length of a male from Palawan, 465; wing, 235; tail, 165; culmen from base, 65; tarsus, 38.
Adult female.—Differs from the male in having no red on cheeks and but a slight wash of pink on the throat. Wing, 235; tail, 180; culmen from base, 64; tarsus, 35.
“Young male.—Differs from the adult male in having the entire malar region, forehead, and greater part of the crown washed with pale crimson, this color being very faint upon the crown; the head darker slaty gray and the tips of the feathers less white; upper parts rather browner; the under surface of the body unspotted; abdomen, sides of the body, and under tail-coverts more of a dusky brown, but assuming the dark slaty-gray plumage; chin, throat, and fore neck light buff, the latter washed with pale red. It has also a pale crimson stripe, rather than a spot, and the hinder part of the malar region, as in the adult.” (Hargitt.)
“Quite abundant in some parts of Palawan. Shot on dead trees in clearings, and in low scrub. We failed to find it in the Calamianes. Two males average, 467 in length; wing, 227; tail, 147; culmen, 59; tarsus, 34; middle toe with claw, 41. A female, length, 457; wing, 220; tail, 140; culmen, 59; tarsus, 31; middle toe with claw, 44. Iris very dark brown; legs and feet dull leaden, nails nearly black; upper mandible black except along gape and at base where it is gray; lower mandible light gray.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus THRIPONAX Cabanis and Heine, 1863.
Culmen nearly straight; nasal ridges well developed; nostrils scantily covered; plumage mostly black, abdomen white; both sexes with a full scarlet crest; length, from 380 to 410 mm.