HAIRY -WOODPECKER. 247 
Breeds from Texas to New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Valley of the 
Mississippi. Common. Resident. 
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 at the base, convex toward the 
end, the edges 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, as well as behind, on the inner side ; toes four; first 
small, but stout ; fourth longest and directed backwards, second and third 
united at the base ; all scutellate above. Claws large, much curved, com- 
pressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 
Plumage very soft, full, and blended. A largo tuft of reversed stiflish 
feathers on each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the 
nostrils ; the feathers in the angle of the lower mandible also stiflish, 
elongated, and directed forward. Wings rather long ; the first quill very 
small, being only eleven-twelfths long, the second one inch and eleven- 
twelfths longer, and five and a half twelfths shorter than the third, which is 
one-twelfth shorter than the fourth, this being the longest, but scarcely 
exceeding the fifth ; 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 long, the next, also unworn, are nine-twelfths 
of an inch shorter than the middle, which are pointed, having the shafts 
very strong and bristle-pointed ; all the rest more or less pointed. 
Bill bluish-grey, toward the end black. Iris brown. Feet bluish-grey. 
The upper parts are black, spotted with white, the lower brownish-white. 
The tufts of bristly feathers over the nostrils, and in 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 divided into two patches by the 
continuation of the black of the head ; a black band from 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, proceeding from the angle of 
the mouth and curving backwards below the middle of the neck, so as to 
meet its fellow behind ; this band is succeeded by another of black, proceed- 
ing from the base of the lower mandible, and continuous with the black of 
