480 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PICABI^ — PICIFOBMES. 



150. HYLO'TOMUS. (Gr. vkorofios, hulotomos, a wood-cutter.) Pileated Woodpeckers. 

 General fonii as in Campephilus. Bill as in that genus, but not white, with shorter gonys 

 only about half as long as commissure ; nasal plumes as before, but no antrorse feathers on 

 sides of lower mandible. Wings and taU substantially as in Campephilus. Feet peculiar : 

 outer posterior shorter than outer anterior toe, and tarsus shorter than inner anterior toe and 

 claw ; inner posterior toe very short (flg. 330). Bill dark ; general color black, relieved by 

 white, the $ with a pointed scarlet crest : 9 crested, but with black only. Our single species 

 is the representative of the famous black woodpecker of Europe, Picus martius j a classic bu-d, 

 by some considered the type of the Linnsean genus Picus. There are several typical American 

 species. 

 433. H. pilea'tus. (Lat. ^jZ«atMS, capped, i. e. , crested ; piZewm, a cap.) Pileated Woodpecker. 

 General color dull 'black; throat, post-ocular line, a long stripe from nostrils along side of 



head and neck, spreading on side of breast, 

 lining of wing, and a great white space at 

 the bases of the wing-quills, white, more 

 or lessiinged with sulphury-yellow. Feath- 

 ers of flanks and belly often skirted, and 

 some of the quills often tipped with the 

 same. <J : Top of head, including the 

 whole crest, and a cheek -patch, scarlet. 

 9 : Posterior part of crest only scarlet, 

 Fig. 330.— Eight foot of Pileated Woodpecker, iiat. size, and no cheek-patch. <J ?: BiU. dark 

 (Ad. nat. del. E. 0.) hom-oolor, paler below; feet '^lackish- 



plumbeous; iris yellow. Quite constant in coloration; very variable in size. Length 15.00- 

 19.00 inches, usually 17.00-18.00; extent 25.00-30.00, usually 26.00-28.00; wing 8.00-10.00, 

 usually 8.50-9.00 ; tail 6.00-7.00 ; biU 1.50-2.00 ! ? averaging about 2 inches less in length 

 than (J, and other dimensions proportionally smaller. Northern individuals averaging much 

 larger than southern ones. North Am. at large, common, resident anywhere in heavy timber; 

 but this is a very wild, wary, and solitary bird, — one which grows scarce or disappears among 

 the first with the clearing away of forests in advance of civilization. Nests in remote and 

 secluded woods and swamps, usually at a great height ; the taking of eggs is something of an 

 exploit. The eggs measure about 1.25 X 1.00. Eggs of woodpeckers are proportioned rather 

 to the bird's bulk of body than its linear dimensions; those of Campephilus and Hylotomus are 

 relatively smaller than a flicker's, for instance. 

 161. PI'CUS. (Lat. ^JcMS, a woodpecker.) Black- and-v7hite Spotted Woodpeckers. Bill 

 more or less nearly equal to head in length, stout, straight, truncate at tip, bevelled toward end, 

 with sharp culmen and distinct lateral ridges on upper mandible ; at base i-ather broader than 

 high, with large nasal tufts hiding the nostrils; culmen, commissure and gonys straight or 

 nearly so (fig. 333.) Feet with the outer posterior longer than outer anterior toe; inner anterior 

 intermediate between these. Wing long, pointed by the 4th, 3d and 5th quiUs ; 2d decidedly 

 shorter (shorter than 7th, except in P. horealis) ; 1st fairly spurious. Species of medium and 

 small size, all black-and-white (one brown- backed), the back striped or barred, the wings with 

 numerous small round white spots on the quills ; $ with red on the head. 



Analysis of Species and Varieties. 



Back dark brown, neitber striped nor fully barred with white stricJclandi 437 



Back black, not striped lengthwise, but barred crosswise with white ; " ladder-backs " (as in flg. 339). 



One large white space on side of head. Crown black borealis 433 



Two white stripes on sides of head. 



Nasal feathers white ; J crown black, nape red, both white-spotted imttaUi 435 



Nasal feathers brown ; (f 'crown and nape red, both white-spotted. 



Outer web of outer tail-feather entirely black-barred scalaris 434 



