PICUS PUBESCENS, DOWNY WOODPECEEE. 283 



Inst, iv, 1860, 111.— Sund., Consp. Av. Pic. 1866, 17.— Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 

 377.— Aiken, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 206.— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 462. 



Picus gardntri, Gray, Gen. of B. ii, 435. 



Pictis gardineri, SCL., P. Z. S. 1857, 127. 



Trichopkits gairdneri, Bp., Consp. Vol. Zyjiod. Ateneo Ital. 1854, 8. 



Dryohaies gairdneri, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv, 1863, 64. 



Ficus {Dryohates) qardneri, Gray, Hand-list, ii, 1870, 184, No. 8591. 



Picus meridioiiaHsj ^VTT., Man. i, 1840, 690.— Game., Journ. Phila. Acad, i, 1847, 55. 



Picus turati, Malh.. Mou. Pic. i, 125, pi. 29, f. 5. 6.— Cass., Pr. Phila. Acad. 1863, 202. 



Dryohates turatii, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv, 1863, 65. 



Picus {Dryohates) turati, Gray, Hand-list, ii, 1870, 185, No. 8597. 



Picus homorus, " Cab. & Heine, Mss." 



Dryohates homorus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv, 1863, 65. 



Picus (Dryohates) homorus, Gray, Hand-list, ii, 1870, 185, No. 8596. 



Picus imh'escens var. gairdneri, Coues, Key, 1872, 194.— B. B. & E., N. A. B. ii, 1374, 512. 



^ai!>.— Entirely correspondeiit with that of P. villosus. (Accidental in England.) 



List of specimens of var. gairdneri. 



Lieutenant Warren^s for/^edi/ioH.- 4639-40, Platte Eiver ; 4641, Bonhomme, Dakota 

 (typical puhescens). 

 ^Late)- Expeditions. 60361, 61088-89, Wyoming (gairdneri). 



This case of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is exactly parallel with that of the last 

 species; it jiasses from puhescens to var. gairdneri in the same region, and both forms 

 show a gradation of size and some minor changes, accordmg to latitude. It is unne- 

 cessary, therefore, to enlarge upon the matter. There is no question of the pertinence 

 of the various synonyms above enumerated. 



Although the range of the two species is substantially the same, they 

 being found together in most localities, yet, upon the whole, the Downy 

 is rather more southern than the Hairy, at least in the matter of abun- 

 dance of individuals. On the Atlantic coast, up to the Middle districts, 

 the Downy is the more numerous. It is iibundant about Washington, 

 D. C, where the Hairy is comparatively rare. Mr. Allen says the same 

 for Florida. In the Missouri region, throughout which both species are 

 found in timbered places, the Hairy is the prevailing form. I was 

 rather surprised to find, in Arizona, that the latter occurred to the 

 almost entire exclusion of the other, which, in fact, I never identified 

 there to my satisfaction. The habits of the species differ in no appre- 

 ciable respect. Neither is there the slightest difference in the character 

 of their plumage, as implied in the names "Downy" and "Hairy" — 

 words that have only a quasi-application to these or any other Wood- 

 peckers. 



Such synonymical lists as may be prepared in this case and the pre- 

 ceding one, and countless other instances, do not reflect creditably upon 

 a late state of our science — a state that we may hope soon to be able to 

 call "late" in the same sense in which the word is used respecting de- 

 funct persons. The vagaries of nomenclature are exhibited in strong 

 light by such an affair as the genus TridactyUa, based on a malform- 

 ation, either congenital or merely accidental. I may remark, in this con- 

 nection, that I once shot, at Washington, D. C, a specimen of Colaptcs 

 anratuH showing the same thing, the right inner hind toe being want- 

 ing. It did not occur to me, however, to propose a genus Tridactylo- 

 colaptcs., nor even to describe the bird as a new species of I'icoidcs. Yet 

 my knowledge of birds at that time was much more limited than either 

 Bonapartc'S or the monographer Malherbe's should be presumed to have 

 been. 



