PICOIDES AMEEICANUS. 285 



Ficu^ iridaot'lus var. /3., Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 439.— Lath., Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 243. 

 Ficus (Aptm-nns) tridactylus, Sw., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 311, pi. 56 {nee lAnn.). 

 Pieoides tridaeti/lus var. americanus, B. B. & E., N. A. B. ii, 1874, pi. 50, f. 3. 

 Tridaetylia midiUata, Steph., Gen. Zool. ix, 220.— Cab. & Heine, Mus. Heiii. iv, 1863, 28. 

 Pious liirsuUts, Wagl., Syst. Av. 1827, Gen. Pie. No. 102 {nee Steph., G. Z. ix, 219, pi. 



38 ; nee Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 68, pi. 124 ; Enc. iii, 1324; Nouv. Diet. 



xxvi, 103, qui sp. Ainer. refert, sed spee. Europ. descripsit). — Add., Orn. Biog. 



V, 1839, 184, pi. 217, f. 3, 4; Syo. 1839, 183; B. Am. iv, 1842, 268, pi. 269.— 



NUTT., Man. i, 1840, 622.— PuTN., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 1856, 229. 

 Apternns lursutus, Bp., List, 1838, 39 ; Consp. Av. i, 1850, 139.— EEicn., Hand-buch, 361, 



pi. 630, f. 4192, 4194.— FmsoH, Abh. Nat. iii, 1872, 61 (Alaska). 

 Pieoides Idrsidus, Gbay, Geu. of B. ii, 434.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 98.— Verr., Pr. Ess. lust. 



in. 157 (Maine, in winter;.— OouES, ibid.v, 1868, 262 (strag^l'ug to Massacbu- 



setts).— Allen, Am. Nat. iii, 1870, 572 (Lynu, Mass.).— Mayn., Guide, 1870, 



129 (same instance). 

 Pieoides ama-ieanus, Bebhm, Vog. Deutscbl. 1831, 195; "Vollst. Vogelf. 71."— Malh., 



Mod. Pic. i, 176, pi. 39, f. 1, 2.— ScL., Cat. 1862, 335.— Gray, Cat. Brit. Mua. iii, 



1868, 30.— Dale & Bans., Tr. Cbic. Acad, i, 1889, 274.— Gray, Hand-list, ii, 



1870, 181, No. 8537.— COUES, Key, 1872, 194. 

 Pieoides americanus \av.faseiatus, Bd., iu Coop. B. Cal. i, 1870, 385. 

 Apternns amerieamts, Sw., Classif. B. ii, 1837, 306. 

 Pious amerieamis, Sund., Consp. Av. Pic. 1866, 15. 

 Picus arcticus, DbKay, N. Y. Zool. 1844, 190, pi. 17, f. 36 {nee Sw.). 



b. dorsalis. 



Pieoides dorsalis,'BD., B. N. A. 1858, 100, pi. 85, f. 1.— Malh., Mon. Pic. i, 179.— Hayd., 

 Eep. 1862, 155 (typo specimen).— Mekr., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1872, 694. 



Tridaoiylia dorsalis, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Heiu. iv, 1863, 26. 



Piexts dorsalis, Sdnd., Consp. Av. Pie. 1866, 14. 



Pieoides americanus var. dorsalis. Bo., in Coop. B. Cal. i, 1870, 386. — Aixen, Bull. M. C. 

 Z. iii, 1872, 180 (mountains of Colorado, from 8,000 feet uiJ to timber-line). — 

 Coues, Key, 1872, 194. 



Sail. — Tbe typical form in Arctic and Nortbem North America, straggling into the 

 United States in winter, to Massachusetts. Var. dorsalis from the Eocky Mountain 

 region as far south as Colorado. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 8809, Laramie Peak, $ , Aug. 25, 1857 ; type of 

 dorsalis. 



Later Exjiediiions. — 62262, Lower Geyser Basin, Wyoming. 



As observed by Sundevall, and afterward by Baird, our three species of Pieoides 

 chiefly differ in the amount of white on the back, from none in arcticus, to a long con- 

 tinuous white stripe in var. dorsalis, much as in P. vlllosns. But although it may be 

 only a step from the darkest-backed hirsutiis to arcticus, I am not aware that the step 

 IS ever actually taken by intermediate specimens, and I therefore retain the species as 

 distinct. Between americanus and var. dorsalis, on the contrary, the intergradation is 

 complete. The character of dorsalis lies in the disappearance of the one or more trans- 

 verse black bars on each white feather of the back, leaving an uninterrupted white 

 stripe — the successive steps toward this end being as clearlv traceable as are those of 

 the changes in the white spots of P.villosus and jyuiescens. Sundevall showed that the 

 name hirsutus, of Vieillot, usually applied to this species, was based upon the European 

 bird, although ascribed to North America ; and that the P. undul-atus of the same author, 

 probably a fictitious species, is based upon P. E. 533, said to be from " Cayenne," to 

 have /owe toes, and to be otherwise entirely incompatible with the present species. 



The Banded Three-toed Woodpecker is very rare in the United States — apparently 

 more so than P. arcticus. I have not learned of its occurrence further south than 

 Massachusetts, where Mr. Welch lately took specimens at Lynn. The dorsal variety, 

 on the other hand, is a common bird of the Eocky Mountain region, especially about 

 Laramie, and to judge from the dates of observation of the specimens secured, it is 

 undoubtedly there resident. Dr. Hayden's specimen, above quoted, furnished the type 

 of the description of P. dorsalis. 



SPHYEAPIOUS YAEIUS, (Linn.) Bd. 

 Tellow-bellied Woodpecker. 



a. varius. 



Picus varius, Linn., Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 176 {P. vantis minor, ventre luteo, Gates., i, 21 ; 

 varius carolinus, Bkiss., iv, 62 ; P. E. 785). — Gm., i, 438. — Lath., Ind. Orn. i, P. 

 232.— Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 63, pis. 118, 119.- Wils., Am. Orn. i, 1808, 



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