(VARIED WOODPECKER.)
+Picus mixtus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 99; _Durnford, Ibis_,
1878, p. 62 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 617
(Catamarca); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 25 (Entrerios); _Withington,
Ibis_, 1888, p. 467 (Lomas de Zamora).
_Description._--Above black, with regular white cross bars; head
black, with narrow yellowish shaft-spots; a large patch behind the
ear on each side of the neck white; feathers of the nape slightly
pointed with rosy red: beneath white, with longitudinal black
stripes; under surface of wings white, with black cross bars: whole
length 6·0 inches, wing 3·5, tail 2·2. _Female_ similar, but head
uniform black, and no red on the nape.
_Hab._ South Brazil and Argentina.
In the district of Buenos Ayres this little Woodpecker, the smallest
of the Argentine species of the family, is usually called _Come-palo_
(Wood-eater) in the vernacular. It has all the habits characteristic of
the true Woodpeckers, inhabiting the woods and perching vertically on
the trees, where it is heard vigorously striking the bark to dislodge
the lurking insects with its sharp beak. When disturbed it flits away
with a shrill querulous cry, passing to the nearest tree with a rapid
undulating flight, and conceals itself by running round the bole to the
opposite side. It excavates a straight hole in a rotten or decaying
branch to breed in, and a common species of _Synallaxis_ (_Leptasthenura
ægithaloides_) frequently makes use of its forsaken breeding-holes. The
entire plumage in both sexes is very dark, nearly black, densely and
evenly marked with oblong white spots. The loose feathers of the crown
are black tipped with scarlet, but in the female the one spot of bright
colour is scarcely if at all perceptible.
White met with this Woodpecker near Cordova and in Catamarca, and Mr.
Barrows in Entrerios, where, however, though resident, it does not
appear to be common.