BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 229 
but upon what authority 1 am unable to say. Itis a well 
known characteristic of all the Woodpeckers remaining over 
winter, to resort to the thickets in the denser forests during the 
rigorous periods of winter, where they secure the most complete 
protection. But this does not constitute a specific character- 
istic habit. Many species in several different orders of birds 
do so, showing that it is not even a generic trait. So far as I 
have been able to learn, this bird affects dry and preferably 
elevated portions of coniferous forests. When collecting birds 
at Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in April And 
May, 1870, at an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet, this woodpecker 
was rather a common species. Again, in the Cascade moun- 
tains, east of Portland, I met with it no less frequently last 
May. Ihave never heard its note, and know nothing of its 
special breeding habits. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Above entirely uniform glossy bluish-black; a square patch 
on the middle of the crown, saffron-yellow and a few spots on 
the outer edges of both webs of the primary and secondary 
quills; beneath white on the sides of the breast, longitudinally 
striped, 'and on the sides of the belly and on the flanks and 
tibial region, banded transversely with black; a narrow con- 
cealed white line from the eye a short distance backward, and 
a white stripe from the extreme forehead (meeting anteriorly) 
under the eye, and down the sides of the neck; bristly feathers 
of the base of the bill brown; exposed portion of the two outer 
tail feathers (first and second) white; bill bluish black, and 
the lower mandible grayish-blue; iris bluish-black. 
Length, 9.50; wing, 5; tail 3.85. 
Habitat, northern North America from the Arctic regions 
south to the northern border of the United States; much fur- 
ther south in the western parts, embracing Nevada and 
California, along the mountain ranges. 
PICOIDES AMERICANUS Breum. (401.) 
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 
I enter this species upon rumor, having never had the bird 
in my own hands for indentification. Iam credibly informed 
that several specimens have been obtained on what is called 
‘the north shore,” that is of Lake Superior, a portion of the 
western extremity of which extends into Minnesota. 
I presume that they have been reported, and have received 
a place in the proceedings of some eastern scientific journal 
which I have not seen, as they were obtained, I understand, 
for the museum of some institution of learning there. But the 
