BIRDS OF NEW YORK 1 45 



stripe from nostril down sides of head and neck; throat, breast and belly 

 white; sides and flanks barred with black; crown patch bright yellow; only 

 3 toes, 2 in front and i behind. Female lacks the yellow crown patch, but 

 young males, even fledglings, have it. 



Length 9.5-10.2 inches; extent 14-15; wing 4.9-5.3; tail 3.4-3.6; 

 bill 1. 2-1.3. 



Distribution. This species is confined to the spruce and balsam belt 

 of the Canadian zone during the breeding season and is permanently 

 resident, but during the late fall and winter wanders some distance from 

 its normal habitat. It has been recorded from Tully, Syracuse, Chau- 

 tauqua county, Sag Harbor, Ithaca, Sennett, Cattaraugus county, Orleans 

 county, Saratoga, Bridgehampton and Poestenkill, the dates ranging 

 from October 6 to February 22. It seems to be of commonest occurrence 

 in November and December. The only breeding records which are sub- 

 stantiated by actual specimens are from the Adirondack wilderness, but 

 it has been reported also as breeding in Tioga county near Smithborough, 

 and in the higher portions of the Catskills. Throughout the year it is 

 fairly common in all portions of the spruce and balsam belt of the Adiron- 

 dacks, there ranking next to the Sapsucker and Hairy woodpecker in 

 abundance and probably much more plentiful than the American three- 

 toed woodpecker and the Downy woodpecker. 



Haunts and habits. The Arctic three-toed woodpecker prefers the 

 dark shades of the spruce forests and seldom wanders far from their coverts. 

 Its habits resemble those of the Hairy woodpecker, but it is less sprightly 

 and to me its voice less sharp, loud and penetrating, a shrill chirk, chirk. 

 It seeks its food on the tamarack, spruce and balsam, devouring the larvae 

 of the boring beetles which are found just beneath the dead bark and in 

 the decaying wood. Of all the specimens which I have examined, none 

 contained any vegetable food; but in the fall and winter it subsists, to a 

 certain extent, on berries and seeds, the reports of the Biological Survey 

 showing that less than 10 per cent of its food consists of small wild fruit. 

 It unquestionably keeps in check the boring beetles which attack all dying 

 timber and so, by reducing their numbers, protects the trees which are 



