208 
WOODPECKERS 
notion will fly, or perhaps drop backwards, a foot or so. He will 
also light sidewise on a branch and grasp the limb with his tail as if 
afraid of falling off. It is interesting to see him explore cracks in 
the bark. Standing on the edge he pokes his head into the dark 
cavern, turning it from one side to the other inquiringly. Dr. 
Merrill has called attention to the fact that he uses his bill as a crow¬ 
bar rather than a hammer or chisel as other woodpeckers do, prying 
off the layers of bark so quietly that you rarely hear him at work. 
The call-note of Xenopicus is much like that of a Dryobates, 
though it seems duller and heavier. 
GENUS PICOIDES. 
General Characters. — Foot with 3 toes, 2 pointing forward and 1 back ; 
bill broad and wide at base, straight, with beveled end, lateral ridges, 
and nasal tufts biding the nostrils. 
KEY TO ADULT MALES. 
1. Back wholly black. arcticus, p. 208. 
1'. Back marked with white. 
2. Median line of back continuously white . . . dorsalis, p. 209. 
2'. Median line of back not continuously white. 
3. Median line of back black and white, black prevailing. 
americanus, p. 209. 
3'. Median line of back usually black and white, white prevailing. 
fasciatus, p. 209. 
400. Picoides arcticus (Swains.). 
Arctic Three-toed Wood¬ 
pecker . 1 
Adult male. —Upper parts glossy blue 
black except for squarish yellow crown 
patch, fine white spotting on wings, and 
plain white outer tail feathers ; sides of 
head black and white; under parts white, 
heavily barred with black on sides. Adult 
female: similar, but without yellow on 
head. Young male: like adult, hut yel¬ 
low crown patch more restricted, black 
of upper parts duller, under parts tinged 
with brown. Youngfemale: crown black, 
sometimes with trace of yellow. Length: 
9.50-10.00, wing 4.85-5.25, tail 3.60, bill 
1.40-1.60. 
Distribution. —Northern North Amer¬ 
ica from the arctic regions to the north¬ 
ern United States (New England, New 
York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Montana, Idaho, California, and Nevada.) 
1 Picoides arcticus tenuirostris Bangs. 
A slender-billed form of P. arcticus. 
Distribution. —Cascades and Sierra Nevada in California, south to Lake Tahoe. (The 
Auk , xvii. 131.) 
From Biological Survey, U. S.Dept. of 
Agriculture. 
Fig. 274. 
