BIRDS PICIDAE — PICOIDES HIRSUTUS. 
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Sp. Ch. — Black above ; the back with transverse bands of white to the rump. A white line from behind the eye, widening 
on the nape, and a broader one under the eye from the loral region, but not extending on the forehead ; occiput and sides of 
head uniforai black. Quills spotted on both webs with white. Under parts whito ; the sides banded transversely with black. 
Top of the head spotted with white ; the crown of the male with a yellow patch. 
Length, about 9 inches ; wing, 4.45 ; tail, 3.35. 
Hab. — Arctic regions of North America. 
General color black above, white beneath. The crown with a patch of orange yellow forming 
the tips of the feathers. The entire top of the head spotted with brownish white, which in the 
colored portion of the crown is at the base of the yellow. There is a narrow line of white 
(scarcely appreciable) from the upper border of the eye, and another broader one parallel to it 
from the loral region below the eye, but not extending on the forehead. The frontal bristly 
feathers are smoky brown or black, much like the forehead. They are very full, reaching over 
half the culmen. The whole back from near the nape to the rump is distinctly banded trans- 
versely with white, and there is a tendency to a white patch on the nape, although the occiput 
is black. Both webs of all the quills are spotted with white ; the spots on the external webs 
small and circular, extending to the tips, those on the inner larger and transverse, and more 
confined to the basal portion. The exposed inner webs of tertials or inner secondaries show 
these transverse bands quite distinctly. The under parts, as stated, are white ; the sides of 
the body banded transversely with black to the tail. There are indications of black bands 
also on the under tail coverts. The two outer tail feathers are white, the bases obliquely black ; 
the third feather is black, with the tip obliquely white. The remaining feathers are black. 
A specimen from New Caledonia, in the collection of the National Institute, differs in having 
the white stripes on the side of the head more distinct ; the lower one narrow, and not diffused 
over the side of the lower jaw. In both, there is a distinct maxillary black stripe. In the New 
Caledonia specimen the outer three tail feathers (including the rudimentary one) are white, 
banded with black towards the base ; the median ones black, with faint round spots of white. 
This species is readily distinguishable from P. arclicus by having the back banded trans- 
versely with white to the rump, (but exclusive of the tail coverts,) instead of being uniformly 
black. There is also more of the white spotting on the inner webs of inner secondaries. There 
is a narrow, scarcely appreciable line of white in both behind the eye, but it extends much further 
back in hirsutus. The lower white stripe is better defined in arcticus, and extends forward on 
the forehead across the bases of the bristly tufts, (but without meeting on the median line.) 
This character is not appreciable in hirsutus. 
The female is said to be similar to the male, but wants the yellow patch on the crown, which, 
however, is spotted with white. 
I have not at hand any good specimen of P. tridactylus of Europe, and am unable to state 
with precision in what the distinctions consist. From the indications of descriptions, however, 
the differences appear to be that in P. tridactylus the white stripes on the side of the head are 
broader, and embrace between them a narrow black malar stripe, instead of being very narrow, 
inconspicuous, and less distinct behind. The middle of the back is white, and with the sides 
streaked, not banded, with black; the under tail coverts are thickly banded with black. There 
is more black on the tail, the three innermost feathers on either side being entirely black, and 
the fourth (from inside) with a little white only at the end ; while in hirsutus the two inner 
only are black, the fourth nearly white. 
The specimen described was received from Mr. John Gould, and once formed part of the 
