Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/234

198 timber, having seen it in oaks, pines, &c. The neit, hke 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 &o 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 at- tain 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 TRiDACTVLUS, 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 (apternus) ahcticus, Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor-Amer. part ii. p. 311. Northern Three-toed Woodpecker, Picus tridactylus, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. pi. 14. fig. 2. Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. S78.

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 man- dible 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.