RED-SHAFTED WOODPECKER. 
291 
little concave, "the dorsal straight, the ridge narrow, the sides convex, the 
edges inflected, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, oblong, about half-way between 
the ridge and the margin, and concealed by the feathers. 
Head of moderate size, ovate ; neck rather short ; body rather full. Feet 
very short, tarsus short, compressed, anteriorly feathered one-third down, 
covered with six large scutella in the rest of its extent, thin-edged, with an 
internal series of small scutella behind ; toes four ; first small, third and 
fourth about equal, second and third united at the base; claws large, curved, 
compressed, laterally grooved, very acute. 
Plumage very soft, full, blended. Feathers at the base of the upper man- 
dible stiffish and directed forwards. Wings of moderate length, the fifth 
quill longest, the fourth one-twelfth of an inch shorter, the third three- 
twelfths shorter than the fourth, and exceeding the second by one inch, the 
first only one inch and nine-twelfths long. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, 
of twelve feathers, all pointed except the outer, which is only an inch and 
three-quarters in length, the next one inch shorter than the middle. 
Bill dusky above and at the tip, light greyish-blue beneath. Iris light 
brown. Feet greyish-blue. Upper part of the head and hind neck light 
purplish-grev; forehead and a band over the eye dull red; the sides and fore 
part of the neck ash-grey, with an oblong patch of bright carmine from the 
base of the lower mandible. The upper parts generally are light greyish- 
brown, transversely spotted with black ; the hind part of the back white ; 
the upper tail-coverts black, barred with white. The shafts of the quills and 
their coverts are orange-red ; the smaller coverts coloured like the back ; 
primaries and their coverts brownish-black, most of them externally spotted 
with greyish-brown ; secondaries brownish-black, spotted on both margins 
with greyish-brown. Tail-feathers brownish-black, the two lateral on each 
side with several light brown spots along the margin, the rest faintly edged 
with yellowish-white, the shafts of all toward the base, and the greater part 
of their lower surface orange-red, tinged with vermilion, as is the lower 
surface of the wings. On the fore part of the breast is a crescentic patch of 
black ; the rest of the lower parts are reddish-white, with numerous round 
black spots. 
Length to end of tail 13 h inches ; bill along the ridge li, along the edge 
of lower mandible 1 T 9 2 ; wing from flexure 6ff ; tail 4}f ; tarsus lfq ; first 
toe f|, its claw T \ ; second toe -fb, its claw ff- ; third toe its claw T \ ; 
fourth toe ft, its claw X V 
Adult Female. 
The female resembles the male ; but has the tints somewhat duller, and 
wants the red patch on the cheeks, that part being merely tinged with red. 
An individual, marked by Mr. Townsend “Female, Columbia river, April 
