(PAMPAS WOODPECKER.)
+Colaptes agricola+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 101; _Hudson, P.
Z. S._ 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 25
(Entrerios); _Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora).
+Colaptes australis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 445
(Paraná). +Colaptes campestris+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 618
(Misiones).
_Description._--Above greyish white, transversely barred with
blackish; wings black, with golden-yellow shafts, and white bars on
the outer webs; rump white, with smaller black cross bars; crested
head black; sides of head and whole neck in front yellow; malar
stripe red; abdomen white, with regular transverse black bars; under
wing-coverts yellowish white; bill and feet black: whole length 13·0
inches, wing 6·8, tail 4·9. _Female_ similar, but no red malar
stripe.
_Hab._ Argentina and Patagonia.
The species commonly called _Carpintero_ in the Argentine country,
and ranging south to Patagonia, is one of a group of the Picidæ of
South America which diverge considerably in habits from the typical
Woodpeckers. On trees they usually perch horizontally and crosswise,
like ordinary birds, and only occasionally cling vertically to trunks of
trees, using the tail as a support. They also seek their food more on
the ground than on trees, in some cases not at all on trees, and they
also breed oftener in holes in banks or cliffs than in the trunks of
trees. As Darwin remarks in 'The Origin of Species,' in his chapter
on Instinct, these birds have, to some slight extent, been modified
structurally in accordance with their less arboreal habits, the beak
being weaker, the rectrices less stiff, and the legs longer than in
other Woodpeckers. In South Brazil and Bolivia the _Colaptes campestris_
represents this group, in Chili _C. pitius_, and in the Argentine
country _C. agricola_.
Azara's description, under the heading _El Campestre_, probably refers
to the Brazilian species, but agrees so well in every particular with
the pampas Woodpecker that I cannot do better than to quote it in full.
"Though this name (_Campestre_) seems inappropriate for any Woodpecker,
no other better describes the present species, since it never enters
forests, nor climbs on trunks to seek for insects under the bark, but
finds its aliment on the open plain, running with ease on the ground,
for its legs are longer than in the others. There it forcibly strikes
its beak into the matted turf, where worms or insects lie concealed,
and when the ant-hills are moist it breaks into them to feed on the ants
or their larvæ. It also perches on trees, large or small, on the trunks
or branches, whether horizontal or upright, sometimes in a clinging
position and sometimes crosswise in the manner common to birds. Its
voice is powerful, and its cry uttered frequently both when flying
and perching. It goes with its mate or family, and is the most common
species in all these countries. It lays two to four eggs, with white and
highly polished shells, and breeds in holes which it excavates in old
walls of mud or of unbaked brick, also in the banks of streams; and the
eggs are laid on the bare floor without any lining."
In Patagonia, where I have found this bird breeding in the cliffs of the
Rio Negro, its habits are precisely as Azara says; but on the pampas of
Buenos Ayres, where the conditions are different, there being no cliffs
or old mud-walls suitable for breeding-places, the bird resorts to the
big solitary ombú tree (_Pircunia dioica_), which has a very soft wood,
and excavates a hole 7 to 9 inches deep, inclining upwards near the end,
and terminating in a round chamber.
This reversion to an ancestral habit, which (considering the modified
structure of the bird) must have been lost at a very remote period in
its history, is exceedingly curious. Formerly this Woodpecker was quite
common on the pampas. I remember that when I was a small boy quite a
colony lived in the ombú trees growing about my home; now it is nearly
extinct, and one may spend years on the plains without meeting with a
single example.
Mr. Barrows speaks as follows of this species:--"Abundant and breeding
at all points visited. At Concepcion, where it is resident, it is by
far the commonest Woodpecker. The ordinary note very much resembles
the reiterated alarm-note of the Greater Yellow-legs (_Totanus
melanoleucus_), but so loud as to be almost painful when close at hand,
and easily heard a mile or more away. They spend much time on the
ground, and I often found the bills of those shot quite muddy. They are
very tough and hard to kill, and a wounded one shows about as many sharp
points as a Hawk. A nest found near Concepcion, November 6, 1880, was in
the hollow trunk of a tree, the entrance being through an enlarged crack
at a height of some three feet from the ground. The five white eggs were
laid on the rubbish at the bottom of the cavity, perhaps a foot above
the ground. In the treeless region about the Sierra de la Ventana we saw
this bird about holes on the banks of the streams, where it doubtless
had nests."
Order IV. COCCYGES.
Fam. XXIV. ALCEDINIDÆ, or KINGFISHERS.
The Kingfishers, which form the subject of an excellent illustrated
Monograph by Mr. Sharpe[1], are but feebly represented in the New World.
Out of the many varied generic forms which make up the family, only a
single genus, with about eight species, is met with in the whole of the
American Continent. This genus (_Ceryle_) is of wide diffusion, having
also representatives in Africa and Asia. There is thus a great contrast
with the Old World, where at least 120 species of Kingfishers are met
with.
[1] A Monograph of the Alcedinidæ, or Family of Kingfishers. By R. B.
Sharpe. London, 1868-71.