300 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



meous", while, in the description, he says 'lively red ;^ and he 

 further states, that it closely resembles C. t'uja, but is smaller. 

 Malherbe describes his bird as 8^ inches long ; Aving 4| ; tail 

 31 ; bill at gape not quite ly^ ; which is slightly smaller than mine 

 by measurement. 



Siib-fara. P1CUMNINJ3, Piculets. 



Bill short, straight, somewhat conic ;. tail short or moderate, soft ; 

 wino-s long ; tongue long, extensile ; feet as in the true Wood- 

 peckers. 



The Piculets chiefly differ from the Woodpeckers by their 

 diminutive size, and the soft broad feathers of the tail, Avhich are 

 twelve in number ; and, as previously noticed, the members of the 

 o-enus Yungipicusha.ve the penultimate tail-feather soft, and thus may 

 be said to grade towards the present group. Severals species are 

 known; three being from the Indian region, and the greater number 

 from America. They are said to breed in holes of trees, and to hiy 

 two (though probably a greater number of) white eggs. 



Gen. ViviA, Hodgs. 



Syn. Picumnus, Temm., apud Swainson, Blyth, and Burton. — 

 Ficulus, Hodgs. 



Char. — Bill moderate, straight, conic, compressed, acuminate ; 

 nostrils round, covered by incumbent setaceous plumes ; tip of the 

 upper mandible truncate, of the lower one pointed ; rictus bristled ; 

 wino-s moderate, or rather long, rounded ; 5th quill longest ; 4th 

 nearly equal to it ; 1st quill very short ; tail soft, very short and 

 flexible of twelve feathers ; the six medial feathers being even, the 

 six laterals o-raduated •, outer posterior and anterior toes nearly 

 equal ; claws strong, large, sharp, and well-curved. 



These little birds are nearly related to the Woodpeckers in their 

 general anatomy ; and their tongue is strictly picine. 



186. Vivia innominata, Burton. 



Picumnus, apud Burton, P. Z. S., 1835— Blyth, Cat. 308— 

 HoRSF., Cat. 993— V. Nipalensis, Hodgson, J. A. S., VI., 107—- 

 Piculus rufifrons, HoDGSON (the female) — Wi-un, in Nepal — 

 Dang chim-pko, Lepch. 



