304 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



SPBYEAPICUS TBYEOIDEUS (Cass.). 

 Black-breasted Woodpecker. 



Picm thyroideus, Cass., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila,, v, 1851, 349 ( $ ). 



Sphyrapicus thyroideus, Bd., Birds N. A., 1858, 100. — Benby, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1851), 105 (New Mexico).— Hayd., Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, xii, 1S02, 

 155. — Cotjes, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliila., 1800, 54. — Cooper, Birds Cal., 

 i, 1870, 394.— Cotjes, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 195.— Mebeiam, U. S. Geol. 

 Surv. Terr., 1872, 694.— Eenshaw, Am. Nat., April, 1874, 242.— Id., An. 

 Lye. Nat. Bist. N. Y., xi, 1874, 9.— Id,, An. List Birds Utah, 1872, Wheel- 

 er's Exped., 1874, 4S. — Id., Rep. Orn. Specs., 1873, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 

 90, 133.— Cohes, Birds Northwest, 1874, 288. 



Sphyropivus thyroideus, Bd., Beew., & Eidg., N. A. Birds, ii, 1874, 547, pi. 50, f. 0. 



Pious thyroideus, Beerm., P. R. E, Rep., x, pt. ii, 1859, 58. 



Pious williamsonii, Newb., P. E. E. Rep., vi, 1857, 89, pi. 34, f. i ( S ). 



Sphyrapicus williamsonii, Bd., Birds N. A., 185S, 105. — Bayd., Eep., 18G2, 155. — Cotjes, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1800, 54 (Fort Whipple, Ariz.).— ALLEN, Bull. 

 Mns. Comp. Zool., 1872, 180 (South Park and mountains to eastward). — 

 COOPEB, Birds Cal., i, 1870, 393. — Mebeiam, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1872, 

 094 (Wyoming).— Cotjes, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 195. 



This species was first made known to science through a description by 

 Cassin, published in December, 1851, in Proc.Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. In 1857, 

 Dr. Newberry published a description of Williamson's Woodpecker (S. ivil- 

 liamsonii) from specimens obtained by Lieutenant Williamson's expedition, 

 since which time the two species have been accepted by ornithologists as per- 

 fectly valid; the true relationship of the two being wholly unsuspected. While 

 near Fort Garland, I obtained abundant proof of the specific identity of the 

 two birds in question ; williamsonii being the male of thyroideus. Though 

 led to suspect this, from finding the two birds in suspicious proximity, it 

 was some time before I could procure a pair actually mated. A nest was 

 at length discovered, excavated in the trunk of a live aspen, and both the 

 parent birds were secured as they flew from the hole, having just entered 

 with food for the newly hatched young. 



As regards the sexual differences of coloration, the case of thyroideus 

 is wholly unique. In this species, the colors of the female are radically 

 different from those of the male. With this single exception, as far as 

 known the differences of color between the sexes in the family of wood- 

 peckers are confined mainly to the absence or less amount of the bright- 

 crimson or red patches about the head. The species is a resident of 

 the pine woods, abundant at an altitude of 10,000 feet, and doubtless is 



