260 AUDUBON'S WOODPECKER. 



sharp, and overlapping; lower mandible with the angle rather long and 

 narrow, the ridge very narrow, the sides convex, the edges sharp and 

 inflected. Nostrils basal, oblong, near the edge, and concealed by the 

 feathers. 



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

 feathered anteriorly nearly half-way down, scutellate in the rest of its extent, 

 and having a series of large scales internally behind; toes four; the first very 

 short, the fourth longer than the third, which is united with the second at 

 the base. Claws large, well curved, extremely compressed, laterally grooved, 

 very acute. 



Plumage very soft, full, and blended. Wings rather long, the first quill 

 only an inch and a twelfth in length, the second five-twelfths shorter than 

 the third, which is one-twelfth shorter than the fourth, and an inch longer 

 than the sixth. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, of twelve feathers, of 

 which the outer is only eight-twelfths long, the next ten-twelfths shorter 

 than the longest. 



Bill greyish-blue. Iris brown. Feet bluish-grey, claws brown. The 

 upper parts are black; the tufts covering the nostrils white; on the anterior 

 part of the top of the head are some feathers largely tipped with yellow, a 

 band of white passes over the eye; the loral space and that behind the eye 

 are black; a band of white passes from the angle of the mouth to the side of 

 the occiput, and beneath it is a narrow band of black; the feathers along the 

 middle of the back are tipped with white; the wings are spotted with white, 

 some of the smaller coverts, the larger coverts, and all the quills being 

 marked with that colour, of which there are six spots on the outer and four 

 on the inner web of the longer primaries; the first primary has a slight spot 

 at the base of the outer web, and two spots on the inner; the second has two 

 spots on the outer, and three on the inner web; all the primaries except the 

 two outer have a terminal white spot, the secondaries two, one on the outer, 

 the other on the inner web. The four middle tail-feathers are black, the 

 rest white toward the end, that colour enlarging so as to include almost the 

 whole of the outer feathers. The lower parts are dull white, having a tinge 

 of brown, the sides very faintly barred with dusky. 



Length to end of tail 7 inches; extent of wings 13-£; bill along the ridge 

 jf, along the edge of lower mandible 1; wing from flexure 4|; tail 2 T 5 f ; 

 tarsus T 9 2; hind toe T \, its claw ff ; second toe T 5 5 , its claw jf ; third toe -f 3 ^, 

 its claw -f|; fourth toe ff , its claw -f S ' 



As Dr. Trttdeau remarks, "this species resembles the Hairy and Downy 

 Woodpeckers in plumage, but is very distinct, and is intermediate in size 

 between them. 



