THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 
251 
fiuneate at the tip ; mandibles of equal length, both nearly straight in their 
dorsal outline, their sides convex ; nostrils basal, oval, covered by recum- 
bent bristly feathers. Head of moderate size, neck of ordinary length, body 
robust. Feet rather short, strong : tarsus strong, scutellate before ; two 
toes before and two behind, the inner hind toe shortest ; claws strong, 
arched, very acute. 
Pluipage soft, with rather disunited barbs, slightly glossed ; Wings large, 
the third and fourth quills longest ; tail longish, cuneate, of ten tapering- 
stiff feathers, worn to a point. 
Bill bluish-black ; iris dark red ; feet bluish-green ; claws light blue, 
black at the end. The top of the head is black, as are a broad band behind 
the eye, another below the cheek, as well as the shoulders, wings, and tail ; 
there is a bright red narrow band on the occiput. A band over the eye, 
and meeting on the hind neck ; another from the base of the upper mandi- 
ble, passing under the eye, and down the neck ; six bars on the wings, and 
the greater part of the middle of the back, together with the three lateral 
tail-feathers on each side, white, the latter marked with black spots. The 
lower parts in general are dull white. 
Length 6f inches ; extent of wings 12 ; bill along the ridge ; tarsus f. 
Adult Female. 
In the female, the red band on the head is wanting, the place occupied 
by it in the male being White. The lower parts are brownish-white. 
In a male preserved in spirits, the width of the mouth is 41 twelfths, the 
tongue is twelfths long, its horny part 34 twelfths, slender, tapering, flat 
above, furnished on the edges with a single row of rather strong deflected 
bristles, about 12 in number. The hyoid bones converge on the top of the 
head as usual, but do not proceed farther forward than opposite the centre of 
the eye, terminating at the distance of 4 twelfths from the base of the bill, in 
which respect they contrast strongly with those of the Hairy Woodpecker. 
The oesophagus is 2J inches long, its width scarcely 1 twelfth, it being in' its 
contracted state narrower than the trachea; the proventriculus enlarges to 2 
twelfths. The stomach is elliptical, 74 twelfths long, 5£ twelfths in breadth, 
its muscles well developed ; the epithelium thin, tough, rugous, and of a 
reddish-brown colour. It is filled with farinaceous vegetable substances of 
a whitish colour. Intestine of moderate length, wide, 8 inches long, its 
width at the upper part 2 twelfths. No coeca. Trachea 1 inch 5 twelfths 
long, its breadth nearly 1 twelfth; its contractor muscles moderate; its rings 
about 50; the bronchial half rings 12. The salivary glands are of large size. 
