528 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Picoides arcticus. 



Genus FICOIDES, Lacep. 



Picoides, Lacep. Mem. Inst. 1799. (Type, Picus tridactylus.) 

 Tridactylia, Steph. Shaw, Gen. Zool. 1815. 

 Apternus, Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 311. 



Gen. Char. Bill about as long as the head, very much depressed at the base ; the 



outlines nearly straight; the lateral 

 ridge at its base much nearer the 

 commissure than the culmen, so as 

 to bring the large, rather linear nos- 

 trils close to the edge of the commis- 

 sure. The gonys very long, equal to 

 the distance from the nostrils to the 

 tip of the bill. Feet with only 

 three toes, the first or inner hinder 

 one being w^anting ; the outer 

 lateral a little longer than the 

 inner, but slightly exceeded by the 

 hind toe, vrhich is about equal to 

 the tarsus. Wings very long, 

 reaching beyond the middle of the 

 tail, the tip of the first quill 

 between those of sixth and seventh. 

 Color black above, with a broad patch of yellow on the crown ; white beneath, trans- 

 versely banded on the sides. Quills, but not wing-coverts, with round spots. Lateral 

 tail-feathers white, without bands on exposed portion, except in European specimens. 



The peculiarities of this genus consist in the absence of the inner hind 

 toe and the great depression of the bill. The figure above fails to represent 

 the median ridge of the bill as viewed from above. 



Common Characters. The American species of Picoides agree in being black above 

 and white beneath; the crown with a square yellow patch in the male; a white stripe 

 behind the eye, and another from the loral region beneath the eye ; the quills (but not 

 the coverts) spotted with white ; the sides banded transversely with black. The diagnostic 

 characters (including the European species) are as follows : — 



Species and Varieties. 



P. arcticus. Dorsal region without white markings ; no supraloral white 

 stripe or streak, nor nuchal band of white. Four middle tail-feathers wholly 

 black ; the next pair with the basal half black ; the outer two pairs almost 

 wholly white, without any dark bars. Entire sides heavily banded with 

 black; crissum immaculate; sides of the breast continuously black. $. 

 Crown with a patch of yellow, varying from lemon, through gamboge, to 

 orange, and not surrounded by any whitish markings or suffusion. 9 • 

 Crown lustrous black, without any yellow, and destitute of white streaks 

 or other markings. Wing, 4.85 to 5.25; tail, 3.60 ; culmen, 1.40 to 1.55. 

 Hah. Northern parts of North America. In winter just within the 

 northern border of the United States, but farther south on high mountain- 

 ranges. 



