6. Sphyropicus ruber. ♂ Cal., 6038.
Sphyropicus varius, var. varius, Baird.
THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.
Picus varius, L. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 176.—Vieillot, Ois. Am. II, 1807, 63, pl. cxviii, cxix.—Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 147, pl. ix, f. 2.—Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 16.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 519; V, 537, pl. 190.—Ib. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 263, pl. cclxvii.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 138.—Maxim. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 416 (refers to peculiar tongue).—Gosse, Birds Jam. 270 (Jamaica).—Newton, Ibis, 1860, 308 (St. Croix).—Taylor, Ibis, 1860, 119 (Honduras).—Sundevall, Consp. 33.—Gray, Cat. 51. Picus (Dendrocopus) varius, Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 309. Pilumnus varius, Bon. Consp. Zygod. Aten. Ital. 1854, 8. Cladoscopus varius, Cab. & Hein. Mus. 80. ? Picus atrothorax, Lesson, Traité d’Ornithologie, I, 1831, 229.—Pucheran, Rev. Zoöl. VII, 1835, 21. (Refers it to Picus varius.) Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Pennant, Latham. Sphyropicus varius, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 103.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 367 (Xalapa).—Ib. Catal. 335 (Orizaba).—Ib. Ibis, 1859, 136 (Guatemala).—Ib. 1860, 119 (Honduras).—Cab. Journal, IV, 1856, 102.—Gundlach, Repertorium, I, 1866, 294 (Cuba).—Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1859 (Bahamas).—Ib. 1865, 91 (Anatomy of tongue.)—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 468 (breeds in Texas).—Samuels, 96.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 306.
Sphyropicus varius.
Sp. Char. Third quill longest; second a little shorter; first between fourth and fifth considerably shorter. General color above black, much variegated with white. Feathers of the back and rump brownish-white, spotted with black. Crown crimson, bordered by black on the sides of the head and nape. A streak from above the eye, and a broad stripe from the bristles of the bill, passing below the eye, and into the yellowish of the belly, enclosing a black post-ocular one, and a stripe along the edges of the wing-coverts, white. A triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin, bordered on each side by black stripes from the lower mandible which meet behind, and extend into a large quadrate spot on the breast. Rest of under parts yellowish-white, or yellow, streaked and banded on the sides with black. Inner web of inner tail-feather white, spotted with black. Outer feathers black, edged and spotted with white. Quills spotted with white. Length, 8.25; wing, about 4.75; tail, 3.30. Female with the red of the throat replaced by white. Immature bird without black on the breast, or red on top of the head, as in every intermediate stage to the perfect plumage.
Hab. Atlantic coast to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains; Greenland; West Indies; whole of Mexico, to Guatemala. Localities: ? Oaxaca (Scl. P. Z. S. 1858, 305); Orizaba (Scl. Cat. 335); Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 367); Yucatan (Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 205); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 136); Honduras (Scl. Ibis, II, 119); Cuba (Cab. J. IV, 102); (Gundl. Repert. I, 1866, 294); Bahamas (Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859; Ib. 1867, 65); Jamaica (Gosse, B. Jam. 270); St. Croix (Scl. Ibis, II, 308); E. Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 468; breeds).
There is an occasional variation in the markings of the tail-feathers. Thus, in No. 782, from Carlisle, the innermost one is entirely black, while
in 4,631, from the Upper Missouri, the outer web of the same feather has nearly, and in 2,107, from Carlisle, it has quite, as much white as the inner web. The outer webs do not appear to vary so much.