PICID^ — THE WOODPECKERS. 49I 



Family PICID^. — The Woodpeckers. 



Char. Outer toe turned backwards permanently, not versatile laterally, the basal 

 portion of the tongue capable of great protrusion. 



The preceding characters combined appear to express the essential char- 

 acters of the Picida\ In addition, it may be stated that the tongue itself is 

 quite small, flat, and short, acute and horny, usually armed along the edges 

 with recurved hooks. The horns of the hyoid apparatus are generally very 

 long, and curve round the back of the skull, frequently to the base of the 

 bill, playing in a sheath, when the tongue is thrown forward out of the 

 mouth to transfix an insect. 



There are twelve tail-feathers, of which the outer is, however, very small 

 and rudimentary (lying concealed between the outer and adjacent feathers), 

 so that only ten are usually counted. The tail is nearly even, or cuneate, 

 never forked, the shafts very rigid in the true Woodpeckers ; soft in Picuinni- 

 ncc and Yungina:. The outer primary is generally very short, or spurious, 

 but not wanting. The bill is chisel or wedge shaped, with sharp angles 

 and ridges and straight culmen ; sometimes the culmen is a little curved, 

 in which case it is smoother, and without the ridges. The tarsi in the North 

 American forms are covered with large plates anteriorly, posteriorly witli 

 small ones, usually more or less polygonal. The claws are compressed, 

 much curved, very strong and acute. 



The PicidcB are found all over the world with the exception of Madagascar, 

 Australia, the Moluccas, and Polynesia. America is well provided with 

 them, more than half of the described species belonging to the New World. 



The subfamilies of the Picidm may be most easily distinguished as follows, 

 although other characters could readily be given : — 



Picinae. Tail-feathers pointed, and lanceolate at end ; the shafts very 

 rigid, thickened and elastic. 



Picumninae. Tail soft and short, about half the length of wing ; the feath- 

 ers without stiffened shafts, rather narrow, linear, and rounded at end. 

 Yunginae. Tail soft and rather long, about three fourths the length of 

 wing ; the feathers broad, and obtusely rounded at end. 



Of these subfamilies the Picince alone occur north of Mexico. The 

 Yungi7im, to which the well-known Wryneck of England (Ji/nx torquiUa) 

 belongs, are exclusively Old World ; the Picumninw belong principally to 

 the tropical regions of America, although a few species occur in Africa and 

 India. One species, Picumnvs micromegas, Sundevall, belongs to St. Do- 

 mingo, although erroneously assigned to Brazil. This is the giant of the 

 group, being about the size of the White-bellied Nuthatch (Sitfa carolinensis) 

 the other species being mostly very diminutive, varying from three to four 

 inches in length. 



