198 THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.
timber, having seen it in oaks, pines, &c. The nest, like that of other
allied species, is worked out by both sexes, and takes fully a week before
it is completed, its usual depth being from twenty to twenty-four inches.
It is smooth and broad at the bottom, although so narrow at its entrance
as to appear scarcely sufficient to enable one of the birds to enter it. The
eggs are from four to six, rather rounded, and pure white. Only one
brood is raised in the season. The young follow their parents until
autumn, when they separate and shift for themselves. They do not attain
their full plumage until the second year.
The number of these Woodpeckers is greatly increased in the State
of Maine during winter, by accessions from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland,
and Labrador, in all which countries I have found the species in summer,
but where, if I am rightly informed, few remain during severe winters.
Picus T R I D A C T Y L U S , Linn. Syst. Nat. voL i. p. 177- Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i.
p. 243. Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 46.
Picus ( A P T E R N U S ) A R C T I C U S , Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor-Amer. part ii. p. 311.
N O R T H E R N T H R E E - T O E D W O O D P E C K E R , Prcus T R I D A C T Y L U S , Ch. Bonaparte, Amer.
Ornith. vol. ii. pi. 14. fig. 2. Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 578.
Adult Male. Plate CXXXII. Fig. 1. 1.
Bill longish, straight, strong, angular, compressed toward the tip, which
is slightly truncate and cuneate; upper mandible with the dorsal line
straight, the ridge distinct, the sloping sides quite flat, the lateral angle
or ridge close to the edges, which are acute and overlapping ; lower mandible
with the ridge distinct, the sides convex, edges sharp and inflected.
Tongue comparatively shorter than that of the Picus villosus. but of the
same form, the extensile part being vermiform, the tip flat above, convex
below, and serrated backwards on the thin edges. Nostrils basal, elliptical,
covered by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body robust. Feet
very short; tarsus scutellate before and behind; two toes before, one only
behind, which is versatile and larger, all scutellate above; claws strong,
extremely compressed, very acute, and uncinate.
Plumage blended, glossy, on the back and wings rather compact.
Feathers of the top of the head stiff and silky. Wings longish, third
and fourth quills longest and equal. Tail graduated, of twelve decurved
stiff feathers, worn to a point, excepting the outermost, which is extremely
small. Base of the bill covered by recumbent bristly feathers.
THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. 199
Bill bluish-black, the lower mandible greyish-blue, as are the feet, the
scutella and claws black. Iris bluish-black. The general colour of the
upper parts is deep glossy black, the head with blue reflections, the back
with green. Crown of the head yellow tinged with orange. Quills
blackish-brown, the outer primaries with seven rows of white spots. Two
middle tail-feathers black, two next of the same colour, but with three
cream-coloured spots on the edge of the outer web towards the end; two
next black at the base, cream-coloured towards the end, black at the tip;
two next cream-coloured, with little black at the base, and a mere touch
of black on the tip; two next of the same colour, with very little black at
the base; the two outermost, which are very short, rounded, and generally
concealed, barred with black and cream-colour. A white band from the
base of the mandible passes under the eye, and there is a very slender line
of the same behind it. Throat, fore neck, and anterior part of the breast,
white ; the rest of the under parts also white, but barred with black.
Length 10| inches, extent of wings 16; bill along the ridge 1 T
2
Z ,
along the edge ^ ; tarsus middle toe and claw \ \ , of hind toe and
claw 1£.
Adult Female. Plate CXXXII. Fig. %
The female wants the yellow patch on the crown of the head, and has
the line of white behind the eye rather more conspicuous, but in other
respects resembles the male.