CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



77 



434. Picus scalaris Wagl. B 79. c 207. R 3C3. 



Texas Woodpecker. 



435. Picus scalaris nuttalli (Garab.) Coues. b 78. c 297o. R 3C4. 



NuttalPs Woodpecker. 



436. Picus scalaris lucasanus (Xant.) Coues. B — . c 2976. u 3C3a. 



St. Lucas Woodpecker, 



437. PicuL stricklandi Malh. b — . c — . r 3G5. 



Strickland^s Woodpecker. 



438. Picus villoSUS L. B 74. C 298. R SCO, 3G0a. 



Iluiry Woodpecker. 



439. Picus villosus harrisi (Aud.) All. b 75. c 298a. R soot. 



Harrises Woodpecker. 



440. Picus pubescens L. b 7C. c 299. r 3ci. 



Downy Woodpecker. 



441. Picus pubescens gairdneri (And.) Cones, b 77. c soon. r 3Gia. 



Gttirdner's Woodpecker. 



ably for ;»7i(s, from pingo, I paint, ami licncp to mean piijtm or piduit, painted, spotted ; if 

 so, it is well applied to the woodpecker, a bird of variei;ated colors, a much pied bird : 

 compare Pica, No. 847. Others hold, however, that picus is from tlie same root as the Gr. 

 iri'iTft) or iriiror, a little bird, a peeper, chirper ; just as Gr. I'lriroj or ixKoi and Lat. eipms 

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

 This would make it an onomatopceon, like pipit, pipilo, tc. — Lat. Lunalis, northern ; 

 boicas, the north-wind. 



Note. — According to Professor Newton (Ibis, 3d ser., vi, 1870, p. 94 8eq.),the type 

 of the Linnican genus Picus is P. iiKirtins. The same author adds, in a private note 

 addressed to Dr. Coues, that " the adjective in any other condjination loses its classical 

 allusion, which all naturalists, including Liimajus, until comparatively recent times, 

 recognized." It would also appear that our //. pilcatiis, No. 432, is congeneric with 

 P. martins. On these premises. No. 432 should stand as Picus pilealus, and some other 

 generic name be found for Nos. 43;M41. It is regretted, that, as the untoward eircuni- 

 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 explanafiim. 



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



from scaud/a, from scando, I climb. The idea in Wagler's mind may have been I lie 

 climbing or scaling of trees by the bird ; more likely the bars on the back, resembling 

 the rounds of a ladder. 



435. P. s. nflt'-tai-li. To Thomas Nuttall. —Perhaps entirely distinct from No. 434. 



436. P. s. lQ-c5s-a'-nus. To Cape St. Lucas, S. Cala., where discovered. 



437. P. strlck'-land-L To Hugh E. Strickland, 'he eminent Knglish ornithologist. " 



Not in the orig. ed. Since discovered in Arizona by II. VV. Henshaw. See Anier. 

 Sportsm., v, p. .'528, Feb. 20, 1875. 

 , vil-lo'-siSs. Lat. villosus, shaggy, hairy, villous ; from villus, a hair, tuft of hair. 



438, 

 439, 

 440 



P. V. hSr'-rls-i. To Edward Harris, companion and friend of Audubon. 

 P. pu-be'-scens. Lat. puliesccns, present participle oi pul'csco, I come to puberty, i.e., the 

 time when the hair grows on the genitals; pubcs, the parts on which such hair grows; 

 hence, puhrsccnt, hairy, downy. 

 441. P. p. gaird'-n6r-i. To Dr. Gairdncr, a Scottish naturalist. 



