CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 17 



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



Texas Woodpecker. 



435. Picus scalaris mittalli (Gamb.) Coues. B 78. c 297a. R 364. 



Nuttall's Woodpecker. 



436. Picus scalaris lucasanus (Xant.) Coues. B . c 2976. 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.) All. B 75. c 298a. R 3606. 



Harris's Woodpecker. 



440. Picus pubescens L. B 76. c 299. R 361. 



Downy Woodpecker. 



441. Picus pubescens gairdneri (Aud.) Coues. B 77. c 299a. R 36ia. 



Gairdner's Woodpecker. 



ably for pigus, 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 picas is from the same root as the Gr. 

 iriiru or ir'nros, a little bird, a peeper, chirper ; just as Gr. 'iinros or fv/cos and Lat. equus 

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

 This would make it an onomatopoeon, like pipit, pipilo, &e. Lat. borealis, northern ; 

 boreas, the north-wind. 



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

 of the Linnsean 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 Linnaeus, until comparatively recent times, 

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

 P. martius. 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 the 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. 



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



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. 



435. P. s. nut'-tal-li. To Thomas Nuttall. Perhaps entirely distinct from No. 434. 



436. P. s. lu-cas-a'-nus. To Cape St. Lucas, S. Gala., where discovered. 



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



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

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



438. P. vil-lo'-sfis. Lat. villosus, shaggy, hairy, villous ; from vittus, a hair, tuft of hair. 



439. P. v. har'-rls-i. To Edward Harris, companion and friend of Audubon. 



440. P. pu-be'-scens. Lat. pubescens, present participle of pubesco, 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'-ngr-I. To Dr. Gairdner, a Scottish naturalist. 



