PICOIDES ARCTJCUS. 245 



the nosts arc reached, it is not easy to cut the hard wood, especially as the straight trunks 

 ailoni no foot-hold. 



In flight, the Oockaded Woodpeckers resemble the Downy but when they alight, they 

 strike the object upon which they wish to rest very hard. Like the preceding species, 

 they are also exceedingly agile, moving spirally up the tall tree trunks with great celerity. 

 Although they will occasionally alight near the ground, yet they spend the greater part 

 of their time in the tops of the lofty pines; in fact, they pass a large portion of their lives 

 there, for they are seldom, if ever, found elsewhere than in the piney woods and they in- 

 habit this kind of woodlan'd even to the extreme southern portion of the main-land of 

 Florida. 



These Woodpeckers must be of great benefit to the trees of the sections in which they 

 occur, for they are indefatigable insect hunters. Out of some thirty specimens which I 

 have dissected in order to examine the contents of their stomachs, I found that only three 

 or four had eaten bark; all the rest being filled with cither the boring beetles or their 

 larvae. The Cockaded Woodpeckers breed about the first week in April in Southern Flor- 

 ida and a little later further north. 



GESUS VIII. PICOIDES. THE THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS. 



(IEN. CH. Sternum, not twice as wide as the height of the keel. Marginal indentations, nearly equal in depth to the 

 hciylh of tin -k'-fl; outer, more shallow than inner. Manubrium, modi.rate. Terminal hook of scapula, variable. Tongue, 

 firnriiliil with a /any, extensible sheath, while the ceralo-hyals are greatly elongated and extend around the back of the skull. 

 I'rui-i'ntricu/us, small. Stomach, rather muscular. Salivary y lands , not very well developed . Both mandibles, straight. 

 II: ml . not i-riftrd. Toes, three in number. 



In members (if this genus, the prevailing color above is black, relieved by white markings and the males are marked, to 

 a greater or lev ex tout, on the top of the head with yellow. The tail feathers are very acuminate. The hind toe is want- 

 ing. The head isnotstrickingly large nor Li the neck very thin. The bill is about equal to the head in length. There are 

 no laryngeal muscles, excepting the sterno-trachealis which is very stout. The tyinpaniform membrane is present and al- 

 t In nigh there is an os transversale, yet it does not support a semilunar membrane! The oesophagus is without dilatation and 

 opens into a small proventriculus. The gastric glands arc rather numerous, simple, and occupy a zonular band. The stom- 

 ach i-; rather globular in form and quite large, the walls are quite thick, and the lining membrane is finely rugose. The 

 fold of the duodenum is not very long, inclosing a wide pancreas. The spleen is an elliptical body lying over the cardiac 

 opening of the stomach. Both lobes of the liver are about equal in size. There are two species within our limits. 



P 



PICOIDES ARCTICTJS. 

 Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. 



Picoides arcticus BAIRD., Birds N. A.; 1858, 98. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, not robust. Size, large. Sternum , not very stout. Tongue, rather thin and horny at the tip which 

 is provided witli barbs for one third of the terminal length. The extensible sheath occupies about one half of the length of 

 the tongue. Terminal hook of scapula, angled above and below. 



iii. Adult male. Glossy black above, including sides of head, maxillary line and bands on the sides and flanks, 

 with line extending from ba*e of bill, do\<li the sides of neck, spots on the primaries and on a few of the secondaries, all but 

 ha*al portion of two outer tail feathers, and tips of next pair, white. Square patch on the top of the head, saffron-yellow. 

 Under portion, including under tail and wingooverts, white, while the feathers of the latter are banded with black and the 

 breast H faintly tinged with yellowish. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but lacks the yellow on the head which is replaced by black, and the white on the 

 tail is not as extended. 



