INTRODUCTION. 71 
but a Bird the very existence of which would seem to be abso- 
lutely dependent on them is the Woodpecker. 
The Great Black Woodpecker (Picus martius), a Bird that 
seems to have been once or twice seen in England, and our 
Green Woodpecker (Gecinus viridis)—the loud ery, or “ laugh,” 
ot which is so commonly to be heard—are examples of a very 
large and very distinct family of Birds. 
There are about three hundred and fifty different kinds of 
Woodpeckers, but though so much more numerous in species 
than the Kingfishers, there are none in Australia any more 
than in Madagascar or Polynesia—none passing beyond Celebes. 
As might be expected, they are most abundant in the enormous 
forest-regions of South America, though, strange to say, 
a Woodpecker (Colaptes campestris) is to be found more to the 
south, in the plains of La Plata, where there is not a single tree 
to peck. 
The handsomely marked English Bird, which, from its habit 
of twisting its neck from side to side, is known as the Wryneck 
(Jynx torquilla), and which will hiss like a snake, is one of a 
small group of four species of the Woodpecker family. 
A very numerous and remarkable group of Birds, for the 
most part great climbers of trees, is tormed by the Parrots, 
whereof the common Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus), from 
Africa, may be taken as a type. Amongst Parrots, in the wide 
sense in which the term is here used, we include Macaws, 
Cockatoos, Ground-parrots, Grass-parrakeets, Love-birds, &c. 
They have all a most unmistakable family resemblance, though 
there are, at the very least, four hundred and ninety-two kinds 
of them. They are especially tropical Birds, but they are 
also to be found in the temperate parts of Australia and in 
New Zealand. Australia, indeed, contains the most varied 
forms, though South America is the region which has the 
greatest number of species. Africa is poorly supplied with 
Parrots in comparison with the other warmer parts of the 
world. No representative of the group now exists in Europe, 
although fossil remains indicate that such was not always the 
case. A Parrakeet (Conurus carolinensis) still exists in Florida, 
and was abundant in the United States, further north, eighty 
years ago. 
One of the most curious species is called the Owl-parrot 
(Stringops habroptilus), on account of its extraordinary and most 
exceptional resemblance to an Owl. It is found only in New 
