100 



U. S. p. R. K. EXP. AND SDEVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL, KEPOET. 



collection of the London Zoological Society ; and it is probably the original of the description 

 and figure of Mr. Audubon, his specimens having been borrowed from the society. 



It is with great uncertainty that I admit the name of Vieillot 'as the proper one for this 

 species. His description and figure apply almost equally well to this and the true P. 

 tridactylus of Europe. No mention is made of any white on the back, and but for the amount 

 of white on the side of the head the description would answer almost as well to P. arcticus. 

 Vieillot evidently considers the bird described as P. Mrsutus as the only one inhabiting northern 

 Europe and America, and the question can only be settled by knowing exactly what locality 

 furnished the specimen used in his article. 



List of specimens. 



PICOIDES DORSALIS, Baird. 



striped Three-toed Woodpecker. 



Black aboTe, white beneath. Crown with a patch of yellow. Back streaked longitudinally with white; upper tail covers 

 spotted with the same. Innermost tail feather black ; next one with a white spot ; third considerably marked with white. 

 Quills spotted with white. Under tall coverts uniform white ; sides of body banded transversely with black. 



Length 9 inches ; wing, 5 inches ; tail, 3.55 inches. 



Hab. — Laramie peak, Rocky JMountains. 



The only specimen of this species which has hitherto fallen under my notice is in very bad 

 condition, having been shot in the moulting season and at the same time much mutilated. 

 There is, however, no doubt of its specific distinction from any other known American species, 

 although it may be difiicult to express all its characters. 



The upper parts generally are black, but there is a longitudinal stripe of white down the 

 middle of the back as in Picas villosus and pubescens. This white in the central feathers 

 occupies the whole of the feather beyond the downy base ; in the adjacent ones, however, it 

 forms an elongated terminal patch on the end of the inner web, the remainder being black. It 

 is impossible to say how far forward the white extends, but probably as iar as the nape. The 

 upper tail coverts have each a white spot at their tips. The wings are black; the quills with a 

 series of small subcircular white spots on the edges of the outer webs to the tips, (six or seven 

 on the primaries.) The inner webs are marked on their edges with larger and more transverse 

 white blotches, commencing at their bases, but not reaching the tips. On the innermost secon- 

 daries these bands are very distinct, and the terminal ones extend nearly to the outer edge of 

 the featjiers. 



There is a patch of gamboge yellow on the crown ; the rest of the head is black, with a 

 distinct white stripe beneath the eye from the angle of the mouth, and extending forward across 

 the bases of the bristly nasal tufts. Its backward extension cannot be ascertained, nor whether 

 there is a second white stripe from behind the eye. The bristly feathers of the nostrils are 

 black, somewhat streaked with white ; they do not reach to the middle of the culmen. 



