OF NEW ENGLAND. 819 
said that only two specimens have been taken in this part of the 
country, and nuchalis may be treated as a western race. It 
differs from true varius in having a red patch on the hind-head 
or nape, and more or less red on the throat of the female. 
Yet, in Messrs. Baird, Brewer, & Ridgway’s ‘‘ North American 
Birds,” it is stated that of true varius a female from Washing- 
ton, D. C., has red on the throat, and a male from Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, has it on the nape. The habits and notes of the 
Red-naped Woodpeckers are described as similar to those of 
the Yellow-bellied kind, and the biographical details of one (ex- 
cept as regards migrations and distribution) are applicable to 
the other. 
IV. PICOIDES ‘ 
(A) arcricus. (Northern or) Black-backed Three-toed Wood- 
pecker. 
(A resident of northern New England, but of accidental oc- 
currence in Massachusetts, in fall or winter.) 
(a). About nine inches long. Wings and tail, black and 
white. Upper parts (and a maxillary line), glossy black. Be- 
neath, white, banded on the sides with black. ¢, with a yel- 
low crown-patch. 
(b). The nest may be found in forests, chiefly in evergreens. 
The eggs seem to average about 90 X °75 of an inch ; but two 
in my collection measure 1:05 x 85. See I, A, b. 
(c). The subjects of this biography have been given a name, 
which is no less resounding than their rapping in the forests, 
namely: Northern Black-backed Orange-crowned Three-toed 
Woodpeckers.!2 These birds are extremely rare or accidental 
in Massachusetts, and in no part of New England are common 
summer-residents, unless far to the northward, where they are 
resident throughout the year, though more common in winter. 
I have found the nest among the White Mountains, but I have 
not often seen the birds. They inhabit the extensive and 
thickly timbered forests, frequenting the evergreens rather . 
12 This full title has actually appeared in print, 
