THE OOLOGIST 



57 



inhabitants of the north and lovers of 

 cold weather. Contrary to what might 

 be expected from their names, the 

 Arctic is not quite as northerly as the 

 American. 



These Woodpeckeas differ from oth- 

 ers in having yellow on the head of the 

 male instead of the usual red; and in 

 having but three toes instead of four. 

 Very strange indeed is this ped-^ 1 alter- 

 ation. We say that never is there any- 

 thing superfluous in nature, — that ev- 

 erything has some office, even though it 

 may be but for ornament. But how 

 about four toes for a Woodpecker? 

 Nearly all Woodpeckers have them and 

 yet here is a species with but three, and 

 in all his journeys up and down the 

 tree-trunks, he is just as nimble, spry 

 and agile as the others. Certainly here 

 is something superfluous in nature at 

 least. Perhaps it is the exception that 

 proves the rule. 



The Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker 

 is eight to nine inches long; wing 4i to 

 5; tail 3^^ to 4. Back, uniform black; 

 sides of head, striped; sides of body, 

 barred with black and white; under 

 parts, otherwise white; quills with 

 white spots, paired; tail feathers un- 

 barred, the outer white, the central 

 black. In the male the cro>vn has a 

 square patch of yellow about the size of 

 a ten cent piece. In the female, this 

 spot is wanting, the head being a glossy 

 black uniformly with the rest of the 

 upper parts. 



Its habitat is Northern North Amer- 

 ica, from the Arctic Regjons south to 

 the southern border of Canada. The 

 food of these northern Woodpeckers is 

 of a nature calculated to render them 

 the most beneficial, economically con- 

 sidered, of all the Woodpeckers. The 

 few stomachs examined by the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture showed 83 

 per cent, of their food to be of animal 

 matter, while only 17 per cent, was 

 vegetable. Of the 83 per cent, of ani- 

 mal matter, 68 per cent, consisted of 



wood-boring beetles; 11 per cent, of 

 Lepidopterous larvae (caterpillars), 

 probably also wood-borers; and 9 per 

 cent, of adult beeitles, ants and other 

 Hymenopterous insects. Thus does 

 this energetic btrd with but three toes 

 do much towards the preservation of 

 the stately pines in the Northland 

 where he dwells. 



So far as I know there are no records 

 for the occurrence of this northern 

 Woodpecker in Western New York ex- 

 cepting the two instances here related 

 by myself. 



The first of these instances is of a 

 male specimen taken about October 15, 

 1883, on the bank of Oak Orchard Creek 

 near Two Bridges (Carlton) by Mr. 

 Andrew Jewett of Albion. It was ham- 

 mering and feeding in the dead top of 

 a pine tree. If visits are to be expected 

 from this northern bird, we should cer- 

 tainly look for them in the midst of the 

 cold of the winter, and so it is some- 

 what remarkable that this bird should 

 have been taken here so early In the 

 fall. But there is no chance for any 

 mis-identification in this case, even 

 though this specimen has now been lost 

 trace of, for the yellow crown-patch 

 and the three toes, and the uniformly 

 black back, are features which even the 

 un-technical observer would use in di- 

 agnosis, and of these three features Mr. 

 Jewett has a vivid recollection. 



The second specimen referred to was 

 only recently taken and is now in my 

 collection thjough the kindness of Mi . 

 F. A. Macomber of Murray.this county, 

 who secured it near that place on the 

 23d of February last. It was on the 

 banks of Sandy Creek near what is 

 called Arnold's Pond. When first ob- 

 served it was in a hemlock, but soon 

 flew out and alighted upon a beech 

 near its base. Mr. Macomber, recog- 

 nizing it as something out of the or- 

 dinary, at once shot it, and mailed the 

 skin to me, same now being in my col- 

 lection. It is a female, the crown- 



