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VI PICIDAE 405 
utter a loud, triple note, frequently reiterated, which has been com- 
pared to that of the Kestrel, and somewhat resembles the spring cry 
of the Nuthatch. Owing to the non-spinous tail the members of 
this genus cannot climb so well as Woodpeckers, while on the 
eround they are awkward and move with constant hops. The 
extensile and worm-like tongue is not barbed at the tip. ynw 
torquilla, the Cuckoo’s-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in 
Fic. 97.—Wryneck. Jynzx torquilla. x #. (From Natural History of Selborne.) 
England, and extends thence to Japan, Kordofan, and Senegal. 
The remaining species are all Ethiopian, /. pectoralis with a 
reddish-brown fore-neck and chest inhabiting the southern half of 
Africa, the similar 7. pulchricollis occurring in East Equatorial 
Africa, and J. aequatorialis, in which the red extends to the whole 
breast, being met with only in Abyssinia. 
Of fossil forms referred to this Family, Uintornis occurs in the 
Eocene of the United States, while Picus and Homolopus have been 
found respectively in the Lower and Middle Miocene of France. 
VOL. IX 2H 
