44 
PICUS TRIDACTYLUS. 
joins the mass of black of the body; a tuft of setaceo* 
white feathers advances far upon the bill beneath ; & 
throat, breast, middle of the belly, and tips of the und® 
tail-coverts, are pure white ; the sides of the hriW 
flanks broadly, and base of the tail-coverts, and evj [ 
of some of the belly feathers, are thickly waved W' ! 
lines of black aud white, as well as the femoral a* 
short tarsal feathers : in very old birds these parts ilf 
considerably less undulated, being of a much purer whi*' 
the wings are fivo inches long, reaching two-thirds t 1 ' 
length of the tail ; the spurious feather is exceeding 
short, the first primary hardly longer than the seventh 
and the four following subequal and longest ; the small’ 
wing-coverts, as mentioned, glossy black : all the otk 
upper coverts, as well as the quills, are of a dull blsw 
the primaries being somewhat duller ; these are regal*” 
marked on both webs with square white spots” I art!* 
on the inner webs, and as they approach the ba*® 
the secondaries are merely spotted on the inner vatf 
the spots taking the appearance of hands ; the tips f 
all the quills are unspotted, the lower wing-coverts >! f 
waved with black and white, similar to the flanks ; I® 
tail is four inches long, of the shape usual in 
woodpeckers, aud composed of twelve feathers, of wh'* 
the four middle, longest, and very robust and acute, s< 
plain deep black, the next on each side is also V 1 ' 1 ’ 
acute, and black at base, cream white at the pob 
obliquely and irregularly tipped with black ; the 1* 
next to these are cream white to the tip, banded kf 
black on the inner vane at base, the more extff' 1 
being much purer white and somewhat rounded ; f 
exterior of all is very short and rounded, and haw® 
throughout with black and pure white : the tars' 1 ' 
seven-eighths of an inch long, feathered in front ^ 
nearly halt its length, and, with the toes and nails, 
plumbeous; the nails are much curved and acute, 1 
hind one being the largest. 
The above is a minute description of our finest 
specimen, with which all those we have exa&K 
coincide more or less. By comparing, however, ” 
