514 NORTH ANFERICAN HIRDS. 



Jidiiiidiiiy Siirvov. Tlioy (lillbrcd slij^litly in tlicir liiiliits I'roin the P. hnrvm, 

 j^ouunilly Imiiting fur insects on tlie niiiples, alders, luid stunted oaks, rntlier 

 than on i'..e ])ine-trees. Specimens were taken on Yiinconver Island, Snuiass 

 I'rairic, Colville, and tlie west slope of the Jvocky Mountains at an altitude 

 of seven thousand feet above the sea-level. 



Mr. liid;,'way f(tund tiiis Woodpecker to he unaecountahlv rare in the 

 Sierra Nevada and all jtortions of the CJreat liasin, as well as in the Wah- 

 satch and I'intah Mountains, even in ])laees where tlie 1'. harrixi was at all 

 times aliundaiit. Ii "eed, he only met with it on two or three oucasions, in 

 the fall : lirst iu the U])])er Ihunholdt Valley, in Septemlier, where it was 

 lure in tlie thickets alon^' the streams ; and again in the Wahsatch jNfoun- 

 taina, where hut a sini,'le hrood of younj,' was met with in August. 



An egg of this species fnun Oregon, ol)tained by Mr. Jiiek.secker, is larger 

 than that of the puhmxns, but similar in shape, being very nearly si)herical. 

 Tt measures .'JG of an inch in length i)y .85 in breadth. 



SuBOExis DYCTIOPICtTS, Bonap. 



Dijctiopiais, RoNAP. Atcnco Ital. ]8,')4, 8. (Tvpp, Picas scahtris, Waoi.EU.) 

 Dyctiopipn, Cabanls & Hki.v. Mus. Jleiii. IV, 2, 1863, 74. (Sniiii' tyjie.) 



CiiAR. Small species, banded above transver.sc]y with black or brown mid white. 



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

 entirely black, from Mexico and the United States (three s[)ecies) ; the other 

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

 (tlire(> species from southern South merica). The northern section is char- 

 acterized as follows : — 



Common Charaptkrs. All the Inrpfor oovorts and qnills with white .spots becoming 

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

 malar stripe of white. Back banded alternately with black and white, bnt not on njiper 

 tail-coverts, nor four cciitr.al tail-feather.s. Beneath whitish, sides with elonfrated lilack 

 spots ; flanks and cri.ssum transversely barred. Tail-f('ather.s, except as mention<'d, with 

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

 mittalll), each feather with a white spot below the red. Female without i-ed. 



The characters of the species scalaris, with its varieties, and nuttalli, will 

 be found under Picus. 



