578 ZYGODACTYLI. 



Of this fine, species nothing more is known, than that 

 it commonly inhabits the remote interior of the Missouri 

 Territory, from whence several skins were brought by 

 Lewis and Clarke in their expedition across the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



The length of the specimens were 11^ inches. The back, wings, 

 and tail, black. Legs and feet dusky. Bill dark horn-color. 



* * Species loith 3 toes. 



NORTHERN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 



(Picus tridactylus, Lijvn. Bonap. Am. Orn. ii. pi. 14. fig. 2.) 



Sp. Charact. — Bill very broad and depressed ; tarsus feathered 

 above ; sides of the head striped with black and white. — Male 

 glossy black, beneath white ; crown golden-yellow, in \he female 

 wholly black. — Youngs black, lined with white, with the crown 

 also similar. 



This species, remarkable for its three-toed feet and 

 yellow crown, is an inhabitant of the northern regions of 

 both continents, being common in Siberia, Norway, and 

 Switzerland, though rare in the more temperate parts. 

 It is known to breed in Switzerland, dwelling among deep 

 forests, in mountainous regions, burrowing its nest in the 

 pine trees, and laying 4 or 5 white eggs, like the rest of 

 the genus. Its voice and habits are indeed precisely 

 similar to those of the Spotted Woodpeckers, to which 

 it is closely allied. Its food consists of insects, their 

 eggs, and larvae, to which it sometimes adds, according 

 to the season, seeds and berries. In the United States, 

 this species is rarely seen beyond the northern bounda- 

 ries of Maine or the borders of Lake Superior. Audu- 

 bon, however, had the good fortune to meet with it 

 in the pine forests of the Pokono Mountains in Penn- 

 sylvania. It is, however, sufficiently common in the 

 dreary wilds around Hudson's Bay and Severn River. 



