HARRIS’ WOODPECKER. 
243 
Male, 9 ; wing, 5x2- 
Columbia river. Rare. 
Adult Male. 
Bill about the length of the head, straight, strong, angular, compressed 
toward the end, which is truncate and cuneate. Upper mandible with the 
dorsal line straight, the ridge very narrow, the sides sloping and concave 
to the lateral angle, which is nearer the edge, the inteiwening space nearly 
erect, the edges sharp, direct, and overlapping. Lower mandible with 
the angle short and of moderate width, the dorsal line straight, the 
ridge narrow, the sides convex at the base, sloping outwards and nearly 
flat, with a faint ridge, above which they are convex, the edges sharp, the 
tip truncate. 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, as well as internally behind ; toes four ; 
first small, fourth longest and directed backwards, second and third united 
at the base, the latter not much longer ; all scutellate above. Claws large, 
much curved, compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 
Plumage very soft, full, and blended. A tuft of recurved stiffish feathers 
on each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the nostrils. 
Wings rather long ; the first quill very small, being only an inch and two- 
twelfths in length, and two inches and a twelfth shorter than the second, 
which is eight-twelfths shorter than the third, the fourth two-twelfths longer 
than the latter, but scarcely exceeding the fifth ; secondaries broadly 
rounded, the outer slightly emarginate. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, 
of twelve feathers, of which the latter, which is rounded and unworn, is 
only ten-twelfths long, the next, also rounded, an inch and a twelfth shorter 
than the middle, of which the shaft terminates so as to leave the tip slit. 
Bill bluish-grey, as 'are the feet ; the claws brown. The tufts at the base 
of the upper mandible dull yellow, with the tips black ; the upper part of 
the head glossy black ; over each eye is a band of white continuous with a 
transverse band of scarlet on the occiput ; a black band in the loral space, 
continued behind the eye over the auriculars, and joining the black of the 
hind neck ; beneath this black band is one of white, proceeding from the 
angle of the mouth and curving backward below the middle of the neck, but 
without meeting its fellow ; this band is succeeded by another of black, 
proceeding from the base of the lower mandible, and continuous with the 
black of the hind neck and shoulders. All the upper parts are black, the 
quills tinged with brown ; but the feathers along the middle of the back are 
largely tipped with white ; the quills, excepting the inner three, are marked 
