HARRIS' WOODPECKER. 243 



Male, 9; wing, 5 T V 



Columbia river. Rare. 



Adult Male. 



Bill about the length of the head, straight, strong, angular, compressed 

 toward the end, which is truncate and cuneate. Upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight, the ridge very narrow, the sides sloping and concave to 

 the lateral angle, which is nearer the edge, the intervening space nearly- 

 erect, the edges sharp, direct, and overlapping. Lower mandible with the 

 angle short and of moderate width, the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, 

 the sides convex at the base, sloping outwards and nearly flat, with a faint 

 ridge, above which they are convex, the edges sharp, the tip truncate. 

 Nostrils oblong, basal, concealed by the feathers, and placed near the 

 margin. 



Head large, ovate; neck rather short; body full. Feet very short; tarsus 

 short, compressed, feathered anteriorly more than one-third down, scutellate 

 in the rest of its extent, as well as internally behind; toes four; first small; 

 fourth longest and directed backwards, second and third united at the base, 

 the latter not much longer; all scutellate above. Claws large, much curved, 

 compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 



Plumage very soft, full, and blended. A tuft of recurved stiffish feathers 

 on each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the nostrils. 

 Wings rather long; the first quill very small, being only an inch and two- 

 twelfths in length, and two inches and a twelfth shorter than the second, 

 which is eight-twelfths shorter than the third, the fourth two-twelfths longer 

 than the latter, but scarcely exceeding the fifth; secondaries broadly 

 rounded, the outer slightly emarginate. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, 

 of twelve feathers, of which the latter, which is rounded and unworn, is 

 only ten-twelfths long, the next, also rounded, an inch and a twelfth shorter 

 than the middle, of which the shaft terminates so as to leave the tip slit. 



Bill bluish-grey, as are the feet; the claws brown. The tufts at the base 

 of the upper mandible dull yellow, with the tips black; the upper part of 

 the head glossy black; over each eye is a band of white continuous with a 

 transverse band of scarlet on the occiput; a black band in the loral space, 

 continued behind the eye over the auriculars, and joining the black of the 

 hind neck; beneath this black band is one of white, proceeding from the 

 angle of the mouth and curving backward below the middle of the neck, but 

 without meeting its fellow; this band is succeeded by another of black, 

 proceeding from the base of the lower mandible, and continuous with the 

 black of the hind neck and shoulders. All the upper parts are black, the 

 quills tinged with brown; but the feathers along the middle of the back are 

 largely tipped with white; the quills, excepting the inner three, are marked 



