BIRDS-—PICIDAE—SPHYRAPICUS. 
101 
The under parts are white ; the sides along the wings and under wing coverts handed trans¬ 
versely with black. The under tail coverts are white without any bands. The two outer 
(stiff) tail feathers are white, the basal portion black. There is a black spot in the white of 
the inner, and a white one in the black of the second stiff feather. The next feather is black, 
spotted terminally with white on the edges ; the next black with a single terminal spot. The 
middle feather entirely black. 
This species requires no comparison with P. arcticus, which has the entire back uniformly 
black. It differs from P. liirsutus in having the middle of the back streaked longitudinally with 
white, instead of banded transversely ; the upper tail coverts spotted with white. The white 
bands on the inner edges of the inner secondaries are broader, and extend nearly to the outer 
web instead of being confined to the inner. The under tail coverts are pure white instead of 
banded with black, and the markings of the tail are somewhat different. The size is rather 
larger ; the bill longer and narrower. 
This species differs from P. tridactylus of Europe in the pure white under tail coverts, and 
the more distinctly longitudinal patch of white on the back. The two middle tail feathers on 
either side only are black, (and, in fact, the second has a white spot,) while the others are much 
variegated with white. The exposed portions of the outer feathers are entirely white, instead 
of being conspicuously banded with black. The sides are banded, not streaked, with black. 
In the Conspectus Yolucrum Zygodactylorum of Bonaparte, mention is made of Picoides 
crissoleucos of Brandt, “ Kamtschatkensis, Bp.,” which may possibly be the present species, 
especially as it agrees in the white crissum. I have not been able, however, to find the 
original description, nor have I at present access to the figures of Reichenbach in leones avium. 
It is, however, hardly likely that a summer bird, found breeding as far south as the parallel of 
42° in the Rocky mountains, should occur also in Kamtschatka. 1 
List of specimens. 
Cat-il. 
No. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
\ 
Collected by— 
Length. 
Extent. 
Wing. 
Remarks. 
8809 
8 
Laramie Peak. 
August 25,1857 
Lt. G. K. Warren.. 
Dr. F. V. Ilayden.. 
9.00 
15.75 
5.00 
Iris, light gray. 
SPHYRAPICUS, Baird. 
Pilumnus, Bon. Consp. Zygod. Ateneo Italiano, May, 1854. (P. thyroideus.) 
Bill as in Picus, but the lateral ridge, which is very prominent, running out distinctly to the commissure at about its middle, 
beyond which the bill is rounded without any angles at all. The culmen and gonys are very nearly straight, but slightly 
convex, the bill tapering rapidly to a point; the lateral outline concave to very near the slightly bevelled tip. Outer pair of 
toes longest; the hinder exterior rather longest ; the inner posterior toe very short ; less than the inner anterior without its 
claw. Wings long and pointed; the fourth longest. Tail feathers very broad, abruptly acuminate, with a very long linear 
point. 
This genus is very remarkable in the prominence of the lateral ridge, and its termination in 
the middle of the commissure, with the narrowness and low situation of the nostrils. I do not 
feel exactly satisfied with the position of P. loilliamsoni in the genus, as, although the bill is 
1 As these sheets are passing through the press, I find that P. crissoleucus has the under parts entirely white, without bands 
or streaks. The under wing coverts even are white, while in all the other species they are spotted with black. Reichenbach, 
Handbuch, VI, 1855, 362. 
