208 



WOODPECKERS 



notion will fly, or perhaps drop backwards, a foot or so. He will 

 also light sidewise on a branch and grasp the limb with his tail as if 

 afraid of falling off. It is interesting to see him explore cracks in 

 the bark. Standing on the edge he pokes his head into the dark 

 cavern, turning it from one side to the other inquiringly. Dr. 

 Merrill has called attention to the fact that he uses his bill as a crow- 

 bar rather than a hammer or chisel as other woodpeckers do, prying 

 off the layers of bark so quietly that you rarely hear him at work. • 

 The call -note of Xenojncus is much like that of a Dry abates, 

 though it seems duller and heavier. 



GENUS PICOIDES. 



General Characters. — Foot with 3 toes, 2 pointing forward and 1 back ; 

 bill broad and wide at base, straight, with beveled end, lateral ridges, 

 and nasal tufts hiding the nostrils. 



KEY TO ADULT MALES. 



Back wholly black arcticus, p 



208. 

 dorsalis, p. 209. 



, Back marked with white. 



2. Median line of back continuously white 



2'. Median line of back not continuously white. 



3, Median line of back black and white, black prevailing. 



americanus, p. 209. 

 ?>' . Median line of back usually black and white, white prevailing. 



fasciatus, p. 209. 



400. Picoides arcticus {Swains.). 

 Arctic Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker.^ 

 Adult male. — Upper parts glossy blue 

 black except for squarish yellow crown 

 patch, fine white spotting on wings, and 

 plain white outer tail feathers ; sides of 

 head black and white ; iinder parts white, 

 lieavily barred with black on sides. Adult 

 female: similar, but without yellow on 

 liead. Young male : like adidt, but yel- 

 low crown parch more restricted, black 

 of upper parts duller, under parts tinged 

 with brown. Young female: crown black, 

 sometimes with trace of vellow. Length : 

 *)..50-10.()0, wing 4.85-5.-2.5. taU 3.60, bill 

 1.40-1.60. 



Distribution. — Northern North Amer- 

 iL-a from the arctic regions to the north- 

 ern LTnited States (New England, New 

 York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 



From Biological Snrv i \ 

 Ag;riciilt\ 



-Dept. ol 



Fig. 274. 



Montana, Idaho, California, and Nevada.) 



1 Picoides orclicns tenuirostris Bangs. 

 A slender-billed form of P. arcticus. 



Distribution. — Cascades and Sierra Nevada in California, south to Lake Tahoe. 

 Auk, xvii. 131.) 



{The 



