590 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PlCARl.E — PICl. 



white spots or bars. Four middle tail-leathers black, others white, the intermediate one usu- 

 ally touched with black. Below, white from bill to tail ; sides. Hanks, and lining of wings 

 black-barred. A white postocular stripe to nape, and a larger white stripe from lore to side 

 of neck. ^ with a yellow square on crown, wanting in 9 > i" both, crown seldom uniform 

 black. J3ill and feet blackish-plumbeous; iris bro\A-n. Smaller than the last; length 8.00- 

 9.00; extent 14.00-16.00; wing 4.50-5.00; tail under 4.00; bill 1.25 or less; whole foot 1.50. 

 Northern N. Am. to the limit of large conifers, S. to Massachusetts and along northern tier 

 of states, less frequently than the foregoing, but breeds with it in the Adirondacks ; general 

 liabits the same ; eggs indistinguishable, averaging a trifle smaller, 0.92 X 0.70. 

 P. a. alascen'sis. (Lat. of Alaska.) Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker. Resem- 

 bling the last; back more broadly barred with white, the bars more or less confluent; white 

 postocular stripe more distinct; dark bars of the sides narrower. Alaska, British Columbia, 

 and Washington. P. tridactijlus alascensis Nelsox, Auk, Apr. 1884, p. 165; P. americamts 

 alascensis Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii, 1885, p. 355; Coues, Key, 3d ed. 1887, p. 880; 

 A. 0. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, p. 162, No. 401 a. 



P. a. dorsa'lis. (Lat. dorsalis, relating to dorsum, the back.) Pole-backed Three-toed 

 Woodpecker. In extreme case, back with an uninterrupted white lengthwise stripe, pro- 

 ducing the effect of a "pole-back," as in D. villosus for instance; this is produced by such 

 increase of white on ends of individual feathers that their black bases do not show, the subter- 

 minal black bars of P. americanus disappearing. Usually partly banded black and white, and 

 grading bar by bar into americanus. The amount of spotting on wings is about as in D. har- 

 risi — on primaries and secondaries, not on coverts. Size of americanus. Rocky Mt. region, 

 S. to New Mexico and Arizona, where it breeds, N. and N. W. indefinitely, inosculating with 

 other forms. Eggs 5 or fewer, indistinguishable, April-June. 



SPHYROPI'CUS. (Gr. o-(/)Opa, sp/mra, a hammer; and Lat. jj?c?(s.) Sap-sucking Wood- 

 peckers. Bill about as long as head, not so stout and chisel-like as in the foregoing genera; 

 pointed, with little bevelling at extreme end only, and lateral ridges running obliquely into the 

 commissure at about its middle ; culmen and gonys both a little curved ; nasal tufts moderate. 

 Wing pointed by 4th primary ; 3d and 5th nearly as long; 2d between 6th and 7th ; spurious 

 1st very short. Tail-feathers long-acurninate. Outer hind toe little longer than outer front 

 one; inner hind toe extremely short. Plumage highly variegated with yellow and red. Sexes 

 unlike in S. vurius, extremely so in S. thyroideus, alike in S. ruber; such variation in this 

 respect among congeneric species being highly exceptional in the ftimily. Tongue scarcely 

 extensile; tip obtuse, brushy ; hyoid bones short. Birds of this remarkable genus feed much 

 upon fruits, as well as insects, and also upon sap and soft inner bark (cambium); they injure 

 fruit-trees by stripping off the bark, sometimes in large areas, instead of simply boring holes. 

 Of the several small species commonly called " sapsuckers," they alone deserve the name. 

 In declaring war against Woodpeckers, the agriculturist will do well to discriminate between 

 these somewhat injurious and the highly beneficial species. 



Analysis 0/ Species and Subspecies (adnlls). 



Sexes sub-similar. Belly yellowish oi' whitish. Rump black and white. Oblique white wing-bar. 

 Head fully striped. Breast witli black patch. Crown crimson ; cf throat crimson, $ wliite. 



Crimson of (f throat strict ; no red band on nape. Belly yellowish. Eastern varius 



Crimson of (J throat spreading ; additional red on nape. Belly whitish. Western v. nitchalis 



Sexes similar. Whole head, neck, and breast, crimson or carmine. Pacific Coast ruber 



Sexes very dissimilar. Belly clear yellow. Rump immaculate white. 



Oblique white wing-bar. Head glossy black, striped with white. Throat crimson. No circumscribed black 



breast-plate thi/rinilens (f 



No wliite wing-bar. Head brown, without definite white or red. An Isolated black breast-plate. Most of the 

 body barred thyroideus 9 



