254 Merrill on Birds of Fort Klajuath, Oregon. [July 



silvery white of the throat, jugulum, and sides of the head. Capt. Bendire 

 in Birds S. E. Oregon* says : "The white about the head is always soiled, 

 becoming a light smoky gray." But as far as my series goes to show this 

 gray is confined to the top of the head. Nor can I believe that it is a stain, 

 for the top of the head is certainly not more exposed than are the jugulum 

 and neck; moreover the gray is quite as deep in fresh-plumaged autumn birds 

 as in those in worn breeding dress. Indeed among the specimen.e before me 

 it is deepest in a young bird just from the nest. A more or less strong 

 tinge of saffron or clay color often found on the nasal bristles and occa- 

 sionally, also, on the forehead, may be, however, a true stain. Two of the 

 females before me have the sides and posterior portion of crown barred 

 faintly with dusky. 



(2) Mr. Ridgway, in considering the generic characters of Xenopicus, 

 has laid stress on "the fact that the tongue is scarcely extensile, its tip, 

 when fully protruded, reaching only \ of an inch bejond the end of the 

 bill, just the same as in Sphyrapicus thyroidetis, while in Piciis villostts 

 /iarri'sii the protrusion amounts to 2.^ inches, or ij inches more.f 



In referring to this statement Dr. Merrill wrote me from Ft. Klamath 

 under date of Jan. 6, 1887 : "I have just killed a female albolarvattis and 

 male thyroideus, and the following is the result of a careful examination and 

 comparison. The tongue of albolarvatus extends exactly 1.30 inches be- 

 yond the tip of the bill, and this without any pulling but by gently draw- 

 ing it to the full length. The tongue of my male thyroideus extends barely 

 .20 of an inch." It is evident from this testimony that the character noted 

 by Mr. Ridgway is too variable to be worth much. 



(3) Mr. Ridgway says :J "Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest ; tip 

 of the first equidistant between sixth and seventh." In my series the first 

 quill is always "spurious," never exceeding an inch in length. The second 

 quill is sometimes scarcely longer than the eighth but is usually about inter- 

 mediate between the seventh and eighth. In five specimens the fourth quill 

 is longest; in four the fourth and fifth quills are about equal and longest. 

 — W. B.] 



Picoides arcticus. Rather common resident, but in the summer more 

 frequently seen in the surrounding mountains than in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Fort. Several nests were found early in July, but the 

 3'oung were fledged. The excavations were in dead young pines and not 

 more than five or six feet from the ground, in the latter respect difl'ering 

 from those of the other Woodpeckers found here, all of which, so far as I 

 have observed, make their holes at a greater height. 



[Three specimens taken at Fort Klamath by Dr. Merrill differ appre- 

 ciably from eastern birds in being larger, with longer and much narrower 

 bills, and in having the nasal bristles nearly or quite black to their bases. 

 Upon examining the series in the National Museum, however, I find that 



* Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIX, p. 129. 

 t Proc. Nat. Mas., Vol. Ill, p. 6. 

 + Birds N. A.. Vol. II. p. 526. 



