578 
ZYGODACTYLI. 
Of this fine species nothing more is known, than that 
it commonly inhabits the remote interior of the Missouri 
Territory, from whence several skins were brought by 
Lewis and Clarke in their expedition across the Rocky 
Mountains. 
The length of the specimens were 11J inches. The back, wings, 
and tail, black. Legs and feet dusky. Bill dark horn-color. 
* * Species with 3 toes. 
NORTHERN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 
( Ficus tridactylus , Lnor. Bonap. Am. Orn. ii. pi. 14. fig. 2.) 
Sp. Charact. — Bill very broad and depressed ; tarsus feathered 
above ; sides of the head striped with black and white. — Male 
glossy black, beneath white ; crown golden-yellow, in the female 
wholly black. — Young, black, lined with white, with the crown 
also similar. 
This species, remarkable for its three-toed feet and 
yellow crown, is an inhabitant of the northern regions of 
both continents, being common in Siberia, Norway, and 
Switzerland, though rare in the more temperate parts. 
It is known to breed in Switzerland, dwelling among deep 
forests, in mountainous regions, burrowing its nest in the 
pine trees, and laying 4 or 5 white eggs, like the rest of 
the genus. Its voice and habits are indeed precisely 
similar to those of the Spotted Woodpeckers, to which 
it is closely allied. Its food consists of insects, their 
eggs, and larvae, to which it sometimes adds, according 
to the season, seeds and berries. In the United States, 
this species is rarely seen beyond the northern bounda- 
ries of Maine or the borders of Lake Superior. Audu- 
bon, however, had the good fortune to meet with it 
in the pine forests of the Pokono Mountains in Penn- 
sylvania. It is, however, sufficiently common in the 
dreary wilds arouud Hudson’s Bay and Severn River. 
