Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. xiv., Supplement, No. 167 ; Hume, Str. F. i. p. 373 ; vii. p. 206. Chrysocolaptes melanotus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii. p. 1005. Picus goensis, Gmel., Syst. Nat. i. p. - . Chrysocolaptes goensis, Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. 282, No. 167. -
The Black-backed Woodpecker.
Forehead black, speckled with white; crown and occiput crimson; lores, streak behind the eye to the nape, hind neck and interscapulars white ; another black streak from the eye down the sides of the neck ; back, scapulars, rump and tail black, tinged with aureous on the scapulars ; wing coverts and secondaries bright golden yellow; primaries and their coverts dusky black, the primaries with large roundish spots; chin and throat white, with three black stripes; rest of under surface of the body white, more or less streaked with black, which disappear on the abdomen, vent, and under tail coverts. Bill dusky blackish; legs and feet horny plumbeous; irides crimson.
Length. - 12.5 to 13 inches ; tail 3.5 ; wing 6.25 ; bill at front 1.9 to 2.
Hab. - Southern and Central India and the Southern Mahratta Country. Jerdon says he found it in the jungles of the eastern ghauts, in parts of Mysore, between Bangalore and the Neilgherries, in the Vindhyan mountains near Mhow, and in the hilly and jungly districts of Nagpore, between that and the Nerbudda; also in the Midnapore jungles.
