P IC ID jE . 313
[105.] 6. P ic u s (A p te r n u s) ar cticus. (Sw ainson.) Arctic Three-toed,
Woodpecker.
Genu s, Picus, Lin n . Sub-genus, Apternus, Sw a in s.
Picus tridactylus. B onap. Or»., i., p. 64, pi. 14, f. 2 ; the male.
Ch . Sp. P ic u s (Apternus) a r c t ic u s, super aterrimus nitidus: remigibus solis maculatis, subtus albus, axillis hypo-
chondriisque transverse nigro fasciatis, vertice saturate croceo.
Sp. Ch . A r c t ic T h r e e -t o e d W o o d p e c k e r , above glossy black, with white spots on the quills only; beneath
white; sides of the body lineated with black; crown saffron-yellow.
PlATE LVII.
This is in every respect a larger species than the preceding : the bill is considerably
longer in proportion, and at the same time not so much depressed ; the
wings also are more pointed, since the sixth quill, which in the former is nearly
as long as the third, fourth, and fifth, is in this fully three-tenths of an inch
shorter. It was observed only on the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains,
where the common species was also procured.— Sw.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed near the sources of the Athabasca River, lat. 57°.
C olour.—Dorsal aspect throughout shining velvet-black, with a Prussian-blue reflexion
from the head, and a greenish one from the back. Crown bright saffron-yellow, approaching
to Dutch-orange*. Five rows of white spots on the greater quills, nearly obsolete on the
posterior lesser ones: none of the quills are tipped with white. A stripe from the rictus to
the side of the neck and the under plumage white, thickly barred with black on the sides of
the breast and belly. Tail similar to that of P. tridactylus. Colour of the bill and legs
also as in that species. The female wants the yellow crown, and her bill is rather shorter than
that of the male.—R.
F o rm , typical. Bill less wide, and consequently stronger, than in the preceding species.
The hind toe is completely versatile, since, in one of the specimens, it has been placed
forward, and is so perfectly on a level with the others, that it would seem incapable of any
other position. None of the quills are emarginate on their tips.—Sw.
Dimensions
Of the male.
Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin.
|total • 10 6 Length of bill to rictus . 1 6 Length of middle nail . 0 5 |
of tail . 3 8 ,, of tarsus . • 0 11 ,, of hind toe. . . 0 of wing
. 5
0
,, of middle toe . . 0 6£ „ of its nail . 0 5f
6*
of bill above
. 1
6
* At the juhction of the yellow tips with the black base of the crown feathers there is a white speck, but it is not
nearly so large and conspicuous as in P. tridactylus. The specks exist in the crests of other Woodpeckers.—R.