514 NOIITH AMFUICAN BIRDS. 



Boundary Survey. They dillered sli;^litly in tlieir liid)it.s from the P. harrm, 

 ^'enerully Ijuntin^ for insects on the niajjles, uldeis, and stunted oaks, rather 

 than on tlie j>ine-trees. Sjjeeiniens were taki*n on VancDUver Ishind, Suniass 

 I'rairie, ColviMe, an<i tlie west ah)pe of the llocky Mountains at an altitu«h' 

 of seven tlmusand feet ahove tlie sea-level. 



Mr. liidj,'\vay found this Woodjjeeker to l»e unaecountahly rare in the 

 Sierra Nevada and all jtortions of the (Jreat liasin, as well ns in the AVah- 

 satch and I'intah Mountains, even in j»laees where the /*. hcrrisi was at nil 

 times abundant. Indeed, he oidv met with it on two or three oeeasiiuis, in 

 the fall : first in the U]»per Ihunholdt Valley, in September, where it wa.s 

 rare in the thickets ulonj^; the streams; and ai^'ain in tlu^ Wahsatch Moun- 

 tains, where hut a sin^de brood of younjj: was met with in Au«,Mist. 



An eg«^' of this species from Drejjon, obtained by Mr. llicksecker, is larger 

 than that of the pulHsnas, but similar in shape, bein<( very nearly spherical. 

 It measures .'JO of an inch in length l)y .Hit in breadth. 



Subgenus DYCTIOPICUS, Bonap. 



Diicfiopinis, Ron'ap. Atonco Ital. 1854, 8. (Typo, Pic iia seal arts, Wagler.) 

 lnjdiopipo, Cabaxis & Hkin. Mus. Hein. IV, 2, 1863, 74. (Same tyj)!'.) 



Char. Small specie.*?, l)ancle(l above transver.'scly with lilack or brown and white. 



Of this group there are two sections, — one with the central tail-feathers 

 entirely black, fioni Mexico and the United States (three si)ecies) ; the other 

 with their feathers like the lateral hlack, banded or s])otted with white 

 (three species from southern South America). The northern section is char- 

 acterized as follows : — 



Common Ciiaractkrs. All the larjrer covert*? and quills with white spots becoming 

 transverse bands on innermost .secondaries. Cheeks black with a supra-orbital and a 

 malar stripe of white. Back banded alternately with black and white, but not on upper 

 tail-coverts, nor four central tail-feat hens. Beneath whitish, sides with elonirated black 

 spots ; flanks and crissum transver.'<ely barred. Tail-feathers, except as mentioned, with 

 spots or tranverse bars of black. Head of male with red patch above (restricted in 

 nutialli), each feather with a white spot below the red. Female without red. 



The characters of the species scalaris, with it-s varieties, and nidtalli, will 

 be found under Picus. 



