DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed near the sources of the Athabasca River, lat. 57°.
Colovr.—N ostril feathers brown. Crown pale saffron-yellow, with white specks shining
through: the rest of the upper surface and sides of the head velvet-black, thickly spotted
with white on the forehead, round the crown, and on the sides of the throat; also a white
line from the eye to the nape, where it spreads out, and another from the nostrils under
the eye, dilating behind the ears. Temples and hind head unspotted. Dorsal plumage and
wings blackish-brown; interscapulars and downy feathers on the hind part of the back barred
with white ; tips of most of the quills, and a series of spots* on their margins, also white,
the spots deficient on the outer webs of the tertiaries and of several adjoining secondaries!
Two middle pairs of tail feathers brownish-black; two exterior pairs barred with black at the
base ; and the intermediate pair largely tipped with white. Under plumage .-—chin, throat, a
line down the middle of the belly, and the under tail coverts, white; sides of the belly and
inner wing coverts barred with black. Bill bluish-grey, above, whitish beneath. Legs lead-
coloured.—In some specimens there are a few white spots on the tips of the greater wing and
tail coverts. The female is smaller than the male, and wants the yellow of the crown, the
top of the head being thickly spotted with white. The bluish and greenish-black on the
temples and hind head is very glossy.—R.
Form, typical. BiU perfectly straight, but considerably depressed, the lateral angles so
near the edge as to appear obsolete. Tarsus longer than the hind toe and its claw, which
toe is longer than the anterior one. Lateral tail feathers pointed, and not rounded, as in
Dendrocopus pubescens.—Sw.
Dimensions.
Of the male.
Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. _ Inch.’ Lin Length, total . . . 9 6 Length of bill to rictus . 1 3 Length of middle nail . 0 4|
„ of tail . . 3 6 of tarsus . . 0 9 $ „ ofhindtoef . 0 6
„ of wing . . 4 6 „ of middle toe . . 0 „ of bill above . 6 „ of its nail . . 0 4$ 1 / 1
Outermost tail feather but one.
* Seven or eight rows on the longer primaries; in P. arctieus only five.—R.
f This is the versatile toe, the true hind toe being absent.—R.