458 CORACIIFORMES CHAP. 
or under parts. From the males the females and young in first 
plumage may be distinguished by their duller coloration ; but in 
the intermediate stages of growth the latter exhibit a considerable 
amount of red. Many species have fine crests. 
According to Hargitt* the number of genera is fifty, including 
three hundred and eighty-five fairly defined species ; though both 
genera and species depend chiefly on colour. He mentions Colaptes 
as an instance of the possible formation of races by hybridization 
or clmatic influences, and Gecinus as an example of diversely 
coloured forms, perhaps originating from a common ancestor. 
The well-known colour-phases of Dendrocopus major and of the 
genus Lyngipicus may be mentioned in. this connexion ; the species 
becoming larger and whiter as they range eastwards through 
Central Asia to Japan, and the former also shewing a tendency 
to a crimson tint on the breast as it nears Africa southwards. 
Woodpeckers are, with a few exceptions, solitary woodland 
birds of a particularly shy and retiring nature, and therefore 
somewhat difficult of observation. When seeking food they 
usually ascend a tree in spiral fashion assisted by their tail and 
claws, and carefully examine every chink or cranny in the bark; 
on reaching the higher limbs they betake themselves at once to 
fresh hunting-grounds, often alighting at the very base of a trunk, 
but equally often flying straight to some promising half-decayed 
branch. In some cases, however, high flights are essayed. The species 
of Colaptes and Geocolaptes feed upon the ground; many forms, such 
as Picus martius, Gecinus viridis, and Melanerpes formicivorus, prey 
largely upon ants and take great pains to make a thorough clearance 
of the nest; the last-named stores up acorns; while Sphyrapicus 
varius and its congeners suck the sap of trees and also hawk for flies : 
others again devour a large quantity of fruits, seeds, and perhaps 
even Indian corn. Omitting, however, the sap-sucking propensities 
of the American species, the harm done is outweighed by the good. 
In spring the laughing, ringing, or other cries may be heard 
in most wooded districts; the sounds being somewhat harsh, 
and consisting of more or less continuous notes according to the 
species, while the duration is commonly about thirty seconds. 
The curious “drumming” noise produced in particular by the 
Spotted and Black Woodpeckers is also chiefly heard early in the 
year, though it ceases not with the courting, but when the young 
1 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii, 1890. 
