PICID^: WOODPECKERS. 481 
Outer web of outer tail-feather partly black-barred lucasanus 436 
Back black, not barred crosswise, but striped lengthwise with white: " pole-backs." 
Outer tall-feathers wholly white. Length usually 9-10 inches. 
Greater coverts and inner secondaries profusely white-spotted villosus 438 
Greater coverts and inner secondaries sparsely or not white-spotted harrisi 439 
Outer tail-feathers barred with black. Length usually 6-7 inches. 
Greater coverts and inner secondaries {)rofusely white-spotted pubescens 440 
Greater coverts and inner secondaries sparingly or not white-spotted gairdneri 441 
433. P. borea'lis. (Lat. borealis, northern ; inappropriate for a U. S. species. Fig. 331.) Red- 
COCKADED Woodpecker. Body spotted and crosswise banded, but not streaked. Head 
black on top, with a large silky white auricular 
patch embracing the eye and extending on the side 
of the neck, bordered above in the ^ by a scarlet 
stripe not meeting its fellow on the nape; nasal 
feathers and those on the side of the under jaw 
white; black of the crown connected across the 
lores vAdth a black stripe running from the corner of 
the bill down the side of the throat and neck to be 
dissipated on the side of the breast in black spots 
continued less thickly along the whole side and on 
the crissum ; under parts otherwise soiled white. 
Central tail-feathers black; others white, black- 
barred. Back and wings barred with black and 
white, the larger quills and many coverts with the (Adnat. del. E. C.) 
white bars resolved into paired spots. 9 lacking the red cockade. A peculiar isolated species ; 
wings longer and more pointed than usual in this genus; 2d quill longer than 7th; spurious 
primary very short; bill smaller than usual, decidedly shorter than head. Length 8.00-8.50; 
extent 14.00-15.00; wing 4.50-4.90; tail 3.25-3.75. Pine swamps and barrens of the S. 
Atlantic and Gulf States ; N. to Pennsylvania. Eggs 0.95 X 0.70. 
434. P. scala'ris. (Lat. scalaris, ladder-like ; scala, a scale, flight of stairs, etc. ; alluding to the 
black and white cross-bars on the back.) Texan Woodpecker. Entire back, from nape to 
upper tail-covei'ts, barred across in black and white stripes of equal width ; a narrow space on 
back of neck, upper tail-coverts, and 4 middle tail-feathers, entirely black ; wing-coverts with a 
round white spot at end of each feather, and a hidden spot or pair of spots further along the 
feather. Primaries regularly marked with white spots in pairs on the edges of the webs, those 
on the outer webs small and angular, on the inner webs larger and more rounded ; on the 
secondaries these spots changing to broken bars ; so that the primaries and coverts are spotted 
alike, the secondaries and back barred alike. Crown black, speckled with white, in the ^ 
extensively crimson; the feathers being black, specked with white, finally tipped with red, 
which becomes continuous on the hind head, where the white specks cease. Side of head 
white, with a long black stripe from bill under eye, widening behind, there joining a black 
post-ocular stripe and spreading over side of neck. Nasal feathers smoky-brown. Under parts 
ranging from soiled white to smoky-gray, with numerous black spots on sides, flanks and cris- 
sum ; lateral tail-feathers perfectly barred with black and white in equal amounts. 9 lacking 
red on the crown. Small: length 7.00-7-50; extent 13.00 ; wing 3.50-4.00; tail 2.75-3.00 ; 
bill 0.66-0.87. Southwestern U. S. and southward, abundant. It is obviously impossible, in 
the cases of these profusely spotted woodpeckers, to frame a descriptipn which will meet every 
case, without being too vague, or going into tedious particulars. The foregoing, taken from 
Rio Grande specimens, covers the usual style of the species as found along our southern border ; 
but the student must not be surprised if I fail to account for every spot of the particular speci- 
men he has in hand. 
31 
I 
Fig. 331. — Red-cockaded Woodpecker, nat. size. 
