Fauna of India (Birds) vol iii 1895 - by W. T. Blanford

Page 11

Genus CHRYSOPHLEGMA  Gould, 1849

Bill more curved than in Gecinus; culmen blunt, nasal ridge almost obsolete. A moderately long nuchal crest. The coloration above is similar to that of Gecinus, green being the prevailing tint, the crest is yellow and the quills barred with rufous, Below, except on the throat, the colour is nearly uniform. The sexes are distinguished by difference of colour in the chin and malar region, not on the crown. This genus ranges from the Himalayas to Borneo and Java.

Key to the Species
Upper surface of wings green .......... C. flavinucha
Upper surface of wings red     ......... C. humii

Chrysophlegma flavinucha,  Large Yellow-naped Woodpecker

Coloration: Bill dusky bluish white; iris red; eyelids & gape greenish blue; legs dusky blue; claws horn-colour.Male. Top and sides of head olive, more or less passing into rufous-brown on the forehead and crown and at times on the occiput, ear-coverts a little paler; nuchal crest of loose-textured feathers orange or golden yellow; whole back and outer surface of wings glossy yellowish green; quills dark brown, broadly banded on both webs, except towards the tips, with pale chestnut; tail black, the middle feathers with olive fringes towards the base; malar region, chin, and throat pale yellow; sides of neck deep olive; feathers of fore neck white, each with a large terminal olive spot, forming a mixed pattern of olive & white; breast olive, passing on the abdomen into ashy grey or ashy brown. Female. Malar region, chin, and throat rufous brown instead of yellow.

Size:  Length 13;  tail 5;  wing 6.5;  tarsus 1.1;  bill from gape 1.6

Distribution: The Himalayas as far west as Mussoorie, chiefly between about 2000 and 7000 feet. This bird has not been recorded further west, but to the eastward it ranges through Assam, Cachar, Arrakan, Pegu, Karennee, and northern Tenasserim to a little south of Moulmein.

Habits: This bird inhabits forests and feeds frequently on the ground. The nidification has not been observed.

Chrysophlegma humii,  Chequered-throated Woodpecker
 

Coloration: Male. Top and sides of head olive-green. Occipital crest of loose-textured feathers bright yellow. Back, scapulars tertiaries, and rump olive-green, paler than the head. Wing-coverts. outer borders of secondaries throughout, mid of primaries near base dull red; remainder of wing-feathers brown, secondaries broadly barred on the inner webs and primaries on both webs except near the tips, with rufous. Tail black. A broad malar band from the lower mandible dark olive, sometimes brown, spotted with white. Feathers of the chin and throat white, each with a broad brown shaft-stripe. Sides of neck, fore neck, and upper breast bright chestnut, this colour passing round to the hind neck behind the crest. Lower parts from breast olive-green, rather more olive than the back. Under wing-coverts barred brown and pale rufous or dirty orange. In the female the chin and malar band are chestnut like the breast and not spotted.

Upper mandible dull black, lower mandible and edges of upper near nostrils, pale plumbeous. Irides deep red; orbital skin green. Legs and feet green; claws plumbeous.

Size:  Length 11;  tail 3.9;  wing 5.25;  tarsus 0.9;  bill from gape 1.5

Distribution: Malayan peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra, extending north into the southern extremity of the Tenasserim provinces, where this Woodpecker is rare. The true C. mentale, long supposed to be identical with the present species, is peculiar to Java.