276 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



of eggs of the tussock moth (Or gym sp.^. They are of course 

 among our most beneficial birds. 



A habit common to both the Downy and Hairy Woodpecker 

 is to excavate in a rotten limb a temporary place of refuge 

 which they use to roost in during the winter, and in Bangor 

 I have observed individuals making such holes in December 

 which they used to roost in during the winter and deserted 

 at the approach of spring. 



Genus PI CO IDES Lacepede. 



400. Ph'oides arctkus (Swains.). Arctic Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker; Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. 



Plumage of adult male : bright orange patch in middle of crown ; wing 

 feathers spotted with white ; outer tail feathers white save at base ; white 

 jine from nostril under eye ; sides barred with black ; otherwise above black 

 and below white. Plumage of adult female : orange crown patcVi lacking, 

 otherwise not different. Wing 5.00 ; culmen 1.45. Toes only three. 



Geog. Dist. — Northern North America, breeding from northern Maine, 

 Hamilton County, N. Y., and northern Minnesota northward through the 

 timbered country to the Arctic Regions ; in winter ranging only slightly 

 southward. 



County Records.— Androscoggin ; rare winter visitor, (Johnson). Aroos- 

 took; rare resident of the wooded sections, (Knight). Cumberland; rare 

 winter visitant, (Mead). Franklin; rare, (Richards). Hancock; very rare 

 resident, oftener seen in winter, (Knight). Kennebec ; very rare, (Powers). 

 Knox; migrant, (Rackliff). Oxford; breeds rarely, (Nash). Penobscot; 

 rare resident of the wilderness, not uncommon in late fall and winter, 

 (Knight). Piscataquis; common in winter, (Homer). Somerset; one speci- 

 men taken February 9, 1895, (Morrell) ; the most common Woodpecker in the 

 interior, a nest found on Boundary Mountain, June 9, 1897, with young and 

 another with four eggs near Moose River, May 23, 1885, (Carpenter, Cf, 

 Morrell, Me. Sp. November, 1898, p. 20). Waldo ; rare, (Spratt). Washing- 

 ton; not uncommon in winter; rare summer resident, (Boardman). 



In the extensive woods of northern and western Maine this 

 species is resident, and under the proper conditions may even 

 be locally seen in considerable numbers, though usually rare. 

 In winter it ranges more into civilized communities though 

 then rather rare, but likely to be seen almost anywhere through- 

 out the State. 



