CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



11 



y 



434. Picus scalaris Wagl. B 79. c 297. R 363. 



Texas Woodpecker. 



435. Picus scalaris nuttalli (Gamb.) Coues. b 78. c 297a. R 364. 



Nuttall's Woodpecker, 



436. Picus scalaris lucasanus (Xant.) Coues. b — . c 297^. r 363a. 



St. Lucas Woodpecker. 



437. Picus stricklandi Malh. b — . c — . R 365. 



Strickland's Woodpecker. 



'438. Picus villOSUS L. B 74. C 298. R 360, 360a. 

 Hairy Woodpecker. 



439. Picus villosus harrisi (Aud.) AU. b 75. c 298a. R 3606. 



Harris's Woodpecker. 



440. Picus pubescens L. B 76. c 299. r 36i. 



Downy Woodpecker. 



441. Picus pubescens gairdneri (Aud.) Coues. b 77. c 299a. r 36ia. 



Gairdner's Woodpecker. 



ably for pigtis, from pingo, I paint, and hence to mean pigtus or pictus^, painted, spotted ; if 

 so, it is well applied to the woodpecker, a bird of variegated colors, a much pied bird : 

 compare Pica, No. 347. Others hold, however, that picus is from the same root as the Gr. 

 itjVw or irinos, a little bird, a peeper, chirper ; just as Gr. 'iirnos or Ukos and Lat. equus 

 (which was formerly spelled very differently, and with c instead of q) are cognate. 

 This would make it an onomatopoeon, like pipit, pipilo, &c. — Lat. horealis, northern ; 

 horeas, the north-wind. 



Note. —According to Professor Newton (Ibis, 3d ser., vi, 1876, p. 94 seq.), the type 

 of the Linnffian genus Picus is P. martins. The same author adds, in a private note 

 addressed to Dr. Coues, that " the adjective in any other combination loses its classical 

 allusion, which all naturalists, including Linnseus, until comparatively recent times, 

 recognized." It would also appear that our //. pileatus. No. 432, is congeneric with 

 P. martins. On these premises, No. 432 should stand as Picus pileatus, and some other 

 generic name be found for Nos. 433-441. It is regretted, that, as tlie untoward circum- 

 stances (tent-life in unbookish Arizona) under which these proof-sheets are being cor- 

 rected do not permit us to follow up the matter at present, we are obliged to let the 

 current nomenclature pass with this explanation. 



sca-la'-rls. Lat. scalaris, ladder-like; scala, a flight of stairs, a ladder, scale, shortencl 

 from scandla, from scando, I climb. The idea in Wagler's mind may have been the 

 climbing or scaling of trees by the bird ; more likely the bars on the back, resembling 

 the rounds of a ladder. 



s. niit'-tal-li. To Thomas Nuttall. — Perhaps entirely distinct from No. 434. 

 s. lu-cas-a'-nus. To Cape St. Lucas, S. Cala., Avhere discovered. 

 P. strlck'-land-i. To Hugh E. Strickland, the eminent English ornitliologist. 



Not in the orig. ed. Since discovered in Arizona by H. W. Henshaw. See Amer. 

 Sportsm., v, p. 328, Feb. 20, 1875. 



vil-lo'-sQs. Lat. villosus, shaggy, hairy, villous ; from vilhis, a hair, tuft of hair. 

 V. har'-rls-i. To Edward Harris, companion and friend of Audubon, 

 pu-be'-scens. Lat. pubescens, present participle of puhesco, I come to puberty, i. e., the 

 time when the hair grows on the genitals; pubes, the parts on which such hair grows; 

 hence, pubescent, hairy, downy. 

 441. P. p. gaird'-nSr-i. To Dr. Gairdner, a Scottish naturalist. 



434. P 



