Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 325 



very wild and difficult to approach, and said that he had 

 chased it for a couple of days before he succeeded in se- 

 curing it. 



This specimen differs from Hume's description in having 

 no spots on the head. Only a few of the feathers on the nape 

 have slight indications of spots, almost like gold dust, at the 

 tips. The plate of this bird in ' Lahore to Yarkand 3 (p. 244) 

 is by no means a good one. The bar on the wing in my 

 copy is coloured very pale blue, instead of pure white ; and 

 the conspicuous white feathers on the carpal joint are entirely 

 concealed by the feathers of the breast. 



PICOIDES TRIDACTYLUS (Linn.). 



Picus tridactylus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 177 (1766). 



Apternus crissoleucus , Bouap. Consp. Vol. Zyg. p. 9 (1854), 

 ex Brandt, MS. in M us. Petrop. 



On my arrival at the wintering-place of the ' Thames ' on 

 the Arctic circle, I found the Three-toed Woodpecker common 

 in the pine-forests on both banks of the Koo-ray'-i-ka, and was 

 assured by the sailors that it had frequently been seen there 

 throughout the winter. I brought home seven skins of this 

 bird, six of which are representative examples of the form P. 

 crissoleucus (Bp.), in which the underparts are much, whiter 

 than usual, the feathers on the belly and under tail-coverts 

 being very slightly barred with black, and the outside tail-fea- 

 thers also displaying more white than in the common form. 

 The seventh skin agrees exactly with skins of the usual 

 colour in my collection from the Petchora, Archangel, and 

 Norway. It seems doubtful whether P. crissoleucus be an 

 Eastern form of P. tridactylus, or merely a very old bird 

 of the latter species. I may remark that in my series of 

 skins the yellow on the head of the male is more developed in 

 the paler-coloured birds than in those more profusely barred, 

 favouring the idea that the difference is one of age. 



SITTA EUROP^EA, Linn. 



Birds are very rare in the Siberian forests in winter. I 

 have often silently threaded my way between the pines on 

 snow-shoes for hours without hearing a note or seeing a fea- 

 ther. Then, perhaps, I should suddenly find myself in the 



