As neither C. auratus nor mexicanus has the top of the head rufous-brown, (though slightly indicated anteriorly in the latter), this character has not been noted in the hybrids between the two (hybridus), and its presence in chrysoides will serve to distinguish it from hybridus.
Habits. This comparatively new form of Woodpecker was first described in 1852 by Malherbe, from a California specimen in the Paris Museum, which had been at first supposed to be a female or immature ayresii. What Dr. Cooper thinks may have been this species was met with by Dr. Heermann among the mountains bordering upon the Cosumnes River, in California, where it was rare, and only two specimens were taken. In February, 1861, other specimens of this bird were taken at Fort Mohave by Dr. Cooper. They were feeding on larvæ and insects among the poplar-trees, and were very shy and wary. The bird is supposed to winter in the Colorado Valley, and wherever found has been met with in valleys, and not on mountains. It is an abundant and characteristic member of the Cape St. Lucas fauna.
According to Dr. Cooper these birds were already mated at Fort Mohave after February 20. They had the same habits, flight, and cries as the C. mexicanus. They appeared to be migratory, having come from the south.
Mr. Xantus, in his brief notes on the birds of Cape St. Lucas, makes mention of finding this bird breeding, May 19, in a dead Cereus giganteus. The nest was a large cavity about fifteen feet from the ground, and contained only one egg. The parent bird was also secured. In another instance two eggs were found in a Cereus giganteus, at the distance of forty feet from the ground. The eggs were not noticeably different from those of the common Colaptes mexicanus.
Family PSITTACIDÆ.—The Parrots.
Char. Bill greatly hooked; the maxilla movable and with a cere at the base. Nostrils in the base of the bill. Feet scansorial, covered with granulated scales.
The above diagnosis characterizes briefly a family of the Zygodactyli having representatives throughout the greater part of the world, except Europe, and embracing about three hundred and fifty species, according to the late enumeration of Finsch,[136] of which one hundred and forty-two, or nearly one half, are American (seventy Brazilian alone). The subfamilies are as follows:—
I. Stringopinæ. Appearance owl-like; face somewhat veiled or with a facial disk, as in the Owls.
II. Plyctolophinæ. Head with an erectile crest, of variable shape.