236 
CANADIAN WOODPECKER. 
Male, 104, 171. 
From tlie northern parts of New York to the Fur Countries. Common 
Migratory in winter to New York. 
Adult Male. 
Bill about the length of the head, straight, strong, angular, compressed 
toward the tip, which is truncate and cuneate. Upper mandible with the 
dorsal line straight, the ridge very narrow, the sides sloping and flat, the 
lateral angle or ridge nearer the edge, which is sharp, direct, and over- 
lapping. Lower mandible with the angle short and rather wide, the dorsal 
line straight, the ridge narrow, the sides flat and grooved for some way 
beyond the angle, convex toward the edges, which are sharp and inflected, 
the tip narrow. 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, and with a series of large scales behind ; toes four, 
first small, but stout ; fourth considerably longer than the third ; second and 
third united at the base ; all scutellate above. Claws large, much curved, 
compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 
Plumage very soft, full, and blended. A large tuft of recurved stiffish 
feathers on each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the 
nostrils ; the feathers in the angle of the lower mandible also stiffish, and 
directed forwards. Wings rather long ; the first quill very small, being only 
an inch and a twelfth long, the second two inches longer, and seven-twelfths 
shorter than the third, which is two-twelfths shorter than the fourth, this 
being the longest, but exceeding the fifth only by one-twelfth ; secondaries 
broad and rounded. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, of twelve feathers, of 
which the lateral, which are rounded and unworn, are only one inch and 
two-twelfths long, the next, also unworn, are eleven-twelfths of an inch 
shorter than the middle, which are pointed, sometimes without having the 
very strong shafts worn, but also sometimes having them broken off at the 
end ; all the rest are more or less pointed. 
Bill bluish-grey, toward the end black ; iris brown ; feet bluish-grey. The 
tufts of bristly feathers over the nostrils, and the angle of the lower jaw, are 
dull yellow ; the upper part of the head and the hind neck are glossy black ; 
over each eye is a band of white, continuous with a transverse band of 
scarlet on the occiput, usually interrupted in the middle ; a black band from 
near the bill to the eye, continued behind it over the auriculars, and joining 
the black of the hind neck ; beneath this black band is one of white, pro- 
ceeding from the angle of the mouth and curving barkwards below the 
middle of the neck, so as to meet its fellow behind ; this band is succeeded 
