PICID.E - PICIN.E: WOODPECKERS. oil 



genera Picoides. Gauropicoides, Gecinulus, and Tiga are ."{-toed by lack of hallux ; iu Picum- 

 nime, the .single genus Sasia is iu like case. In palatal characters the Picidce exhibit " a 

 simplification and degradation of the a'githognathous structure," as Huxley puts it, and this 

 condition is called by Parker " saurognathous." Saurognatiiisni consists essentially in lack of 

 fusion of parts along the midline ; the vomer is double, in permanently paired halves, i. e. there 

 are two vomers, attached on tiieir respective sides to the small palatines, and the maxillopala- 

 tiues are abortive. The sahvary glands are higiily dcvchnu'd, and the hyoidean apparatus is 

 j)eculiar (less so in one or two genera o{ Picina'). There is no urcjhyal bone, the ceratohyals 

 are small and fused or fusible together, the basihyal is slender, and as a rule the enormously 

 developed thyrohyals are jointed in two pieces which curl up over tlie skull; tliis is the mecha- 

 nism, by which as actuated by corresi)ondingly specialized hyoidean muscles, tlie long lumbrici- 

 form tongu(! can be tlirnst far out of the mouth. Only the left carotid is present ; the oil-gland 

 is tufted and there are no caica. The whole pterylosis exhibits passerine affinities uumis- 

 taUahly ; thus, the secondary coverts are short, as in Passeres ; the first priuiary is short or 

 s|)urious, leaving only 9 functionally well developed; and the rectrices are 12, though one pair 

 be spurious. The bill varies to a considerable extent iu the different subfamilies and genera, 

 without losing its (hstinctive ciiaracter as a hammer, cliisel, or gouge. The himily is well i 

 divided, according to the stnu-tinc of the tail and other characters, into three subfamilies, so ^ 

 well marked that I reluctantly now relegate them to one family. The Old World lyngina; or 

 Wrynecks, of one genus and about G species, have the tail soft, and other ])eculiarities. The 

 J'iciimnitue or Piculets are also soft tailed, and in general superficialities resemble Nuthatches 

 (|uitc curiously. Most of these diminutive birds are Neotropical, there being about 20 species 

 in South America; a few are Oriental, among them the 3-toed species of Sasia ; one is Ethi- 

 opian ( Verreauxia africana) ; one Antilleau (Nesoctites micromegas) ; the total of the species 

 is about 40, mostly of the genus Picumnns. All the North American Picidce belong to the 



Subfamily PICIN/E: Woodpeckers. 



Tail-feathers rigid, acuviimite ; hill a chisel. This expression will serve for the recognition 

 of any Woodpecker. Wing of 10 primaries; 1st short or even spurious, the wing-formula 

 being (juite as in most passerine birds — a Crow or Thrush, for example. Greater row of 

 secondary coverts short, as in passerine birds at large. Tail of 12 rectrices, but outermost 

 pair rudimentary, lying concealed at base of tail betwem the penultimate (now exterior) and 

 next pair, so that there appear to be but 10, as usual iu picarian binls (a strong peculiarity). 

 'I'ail-teatliers very stiff and strong, with enlarged elastic shafts, and acuminate at end. Tarsi 

 scutellate in front, on sides and behind variously reticulate. Toes .strongly scutellate on top. 

 Tiu- usual ratio of toes is: 1st (inner posterior) shortest; 2d (inner anterior) next longer; 

 .'M (outer anterior) Ioniser: Ith (outer posterior) loiiirest of all (in most typical species; iu 

 some, however, scarcely or not e(|ualling .'M in length). The basal joints of the toes are 

 al)breviated. 



These l)irds iuive been specially studied, with nuire or less gratifying success, by Malherbe, 

 Suudevall, Cal>anis, C'assin, and more recently E. Hargitt. The latter makes out 4r> genera 

 and .'iOH well-determined sjiecies, of all [)arts of the world except Madagascar, Australia, 

 and {'(dynesia, especially numerous iu the Neotropical and Oriental retjiinis, less so in Ethi- 

 opian, least .so in the I'ahearctic ami Nearctic. Their separation into minor groups has not 

 lieen agreed upcm ; our species have been thrown into three <livisions, which, however, I shall 

 not present, as considi'riition of exotic forms shows how the genera arc interr(dated, and how 

 nice is the i^radation in foiiii between the Ivorv-hill and the Flicker, which stand nearly at 



