of the United States. 43 



acute ; margins entire : tongue extremely long, extensible, 

 lumbriciform. Feet short, robust; tarsus annulated; fore 

 toes united at base ; hind toes divided ; outer not versatile ; 

 inner rarely wanting. Tail of from ten to twelve feathers. 



Reside chiefly in forests and orchards : climb upwards 

 with great facility : feed on insects, especially such as lie 

 concealed under the bark of trees ; obtain these by means of 

 their tongue, which is acute and hard at tip, and covered by 

 a glutinous secretion. Build in the cavities of trees ; breed 

 once a year ; eggs 3- — 8 ; young taught to climb at first : not 

 easily domesticated. 



6. PICUS. 



Picus, L. Briss. Gm. Lath. III. Cuv. Vieill. Temm. Ranz. 



Picus, Picoides, Lacep^de. 



Bill robust, straight, pyramidal-polyedra], cuneate at tip ; 

 mandibles subequal, upper rather longer : nostrils basal, 

 oval, open, partly covered by setaceous incumbent feathers : 

 tongue mucronate at tip, with retrorse bristles. Inner hind 

 toe shortest, rarely rudimentary or wanting ; nails arcuated, 

 acute. Wings moderate ; spurious feather short ; third and 

 fourth primaries longest. Tail cuneiform, of twelve feathers, 

 very rigid and acute ; outer feather very short, sometimes 

 obsolete or totally wanting. 



Female resembling the male, though easily distinguished. 

 Young sometimes very different. 



Live in woods ; solitary, timid, and laborious : smaller 

 American species far less shy than those of Europe. Climb 

 with admirable agility on the trunks of trees, their sharp nails 

 enabling them to adhere to the bark, and the rigid tail serving 

 for a support : seldom walk on the ground or stand on the 

 branches of trees. Excavate dead trees, but seldom living ones. 

 Hearing acute, directing them to the position of their prey be- 

 neath the bark, consisting principally of larvae which they ex- 

 tract by cutting through the bark with repeated blows of the 

 bill producing a stridulous sound, startling in the silence of 



