Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 219
In external characters this genus seems to be only slightly dif-
ferentiated from Tripsufnis, with which it agrees in the broadly
naked area about the eye.
CHRYSOPTILUS MELANOLAIMUS MELANOLAIMUS (Malherbe)^'
Chrysopicns melanolaitnus Malherbe, Mou. Pic, vol. 2, 1862, p. 1S5, pU
89, figs. 7 and 8. (Bolivia and Chile.)
A male in partial molt secured at Tunuj^an, Mendoza, on March
27, 1921, is taken as representing the typical race of this woodpecker^
though specimens from Bolivia, the type-locality, have not been
available for comparison. The black area posterior to the malar
stripe is broad and extensive, so that it passes down on the side of
the neck well below the level of the ear. The underparts are marked
with heavy black spots and bars, and small spots cover the entire
abdomen. The rump is very light. Measurements of this specimen
are as follows: Wing, 118; culmen, 37.2; tail, 95.6; tarsus, 32 mm.
Scattered new feathers are still in the sheaths on the head, neck,
breast, back, and wing coverts. The outer primaries have been
renewed, but the inner ones and some of the secondaries are still of
old growth.
An adult female from Victorica, Pampa, taken December 27, 1920^
is somewhat intermediate toward C. a. pei'plexus, but in the small
series of specimens at liand seems to be nearer to those that I have
called melanoJaimus. The bird in question is in worn breeding
plumage. The light markings of the upper surface are bleached
until they are nearly white, and the black post malar mark is ex-
tensive. The markings of the lower surface are less heavy than in
birds from Mendoza, but the abdomen is distinctly spotted. This
bird measures as follows: Wing, 161.2; culmen, 37.1; tail, 101;
tarsus, 31 mm.
A male in the United States National Museum, taken at Santiago
del Estero, July 29, 1922, by D. S. Bullock, is also representative of
this form, as it has the bold markings and large size characteristic
of melanolahnus. It measures as follows: Wing, 156.2; tail, 102.2;
culmen from base, 38.2; tarsus, 30 mm.
At Victorica, Pampa, these woodpeckers were found from December
27 to 29, at times in parties of five or six, through the dry,
open forest of calden, algarroba, and similar trees prevalent in this
section. The presence of two in the arid region near Tunuyan,
Mendoza, on March 27, on a low hill covered with bushes, was a
surprise to me, as large tree growth in this neighborhood was con-
fined to poplars, cottonwoods, and willows growing along irrigation
ditches.
«> Though the bird is indicated as melanoJaimus in the text the plate is marked
melanolaemua.