254 



WOODPECKERS. 



Himalayas, as well as in Assam, Sylhet, and Arakan, sometimes at an eleva- 

 tion of from about 3,000 to 6,000 feet. Like the species last mentioned, it chiefly 

 hunts among bruslnvood, or more especially among falling and decayed timber 

 near the banks of streams. It lives entirely on insects, but is never seen to 

 climb large trees. 



Fig. 131.— The Pigmy Picui-et I^Picuviiuis py^nceus). 



The habits of the South American species differ in several respects from 

 those of their Indian relatives. According to D'Azara, the piculets of the 

 American continent climb along the thin twigs of bushes, and leap from one 

 branch to another, seizing hold of them with their feet. When climbing, their 

 tail does not seem to be of any assistance to them, or, if they employ it at all, 

 it is quite accidentally. In other respects they have the general habits of 

 climbing birds : by means of their beak they excavate holes in the rotten 

 wood of old trees, in which their eggs are deposited. 



The type of this sub-family is — ■ 



The Pigmy Pictolet {Picionuus pygmccus)^ represented above. 



