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PICUS CANADENSIS— GMELo 



CANADIAN WOODPECKER. 



Great Spotted Woodpecker, Picns soptentrionalis, Nutt Man. 

 Picus (Ucndrocopu^) villosus, Hairv Woodpecker, Sw & Rich. 

 Canadian Woodpecker, Picus Canadensis, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Spedjjc Character — Bill along the gap one inch and three 

 feighths ; tarsi seven-eighths of an inch ; tail three inches and a half 

 long. Adult with the nostrils covered with dull yellow, bristly- 

 feathers ; crown black ; over the eye a white band passing into 

 scarlet on the occiput ; behind the eye a band of black continuing 

 down the middle of the hind neck ; from the corners of the mouth a 

 band of wh'te, which becomes broader as it terminates on the 

 shoulders ; at the base of the lower mandible a black band, which 

 passes down the sides of the neck, terminating on the sides of the 

 breast, inclining forward at its termination ; back and wings black, 

 in the middle of the former some of the feathers are white, the lat- 

 ter spotted with white; these markings are rather larger than those 

 of the Hairy Woodpecker ; tail black, the outer two feathers white, 

 with a spot of black at their bases ; the next feather with a portion 

 of the outer web and a spot near the end of the inner web white, 

 as are the lower parts of the body. Female with the red occiputal 

 band wanting. Length ten inches, wing five and an eighth. 



The plumage of this bird is so like that of the Hairy Wood- 

 pecker, that were it not for its superior size, it would scarcely be 

 distinguishable ; its voice, however, is much harsher — the head 

 much broader, with the bill stronger — the recumbent feathers at its 

 base longer, and more thickly furnished — the spots on the wings 

 larger, and the middle tail feathers extended an inch and a half 

 beyond the wings — while those feathers of P. villosus scarcely ap- 

 pear one inch beyond the wings. It is not so plentiful as the pre- 

 ceding, to which its habits are similar. 



