402 Mr. E. Hargitt on the Woodpeckers 



he has done the Woodpeckers, it is not surprising that his 

 edition of Layard^s book has taken him so many years 

 to complete. I have already treated of Verreauxia in my 

 paper on '' The Piculets of the Old World " (Ibis, 1881, 

 p. 222) ; and I have not included lynx in the present paper, 

 as 1 hope to present to the readers of ' The Ibis ' a memoir 

 on the Wrynecks at some future date. 



I must here return my thanks to Dr. Giinther for the 

 facilities which he has ahvays afforded me for study at the 

 British Museum, while, I need hardly add, my friend Mr. 

 Sharpe has always done his utmost to help me in consulting 

 the fine collection under his charge. Capt. Shelley has lent 

 me his entire collection of Woodpeckers ; and many of the 

 descriptions are taken from the birds so kindly placed at my 

 disposal. To Mr. Salvin I am indebted for the opportunity 

 of examining Swainson^s types in the Cambridge University 

 Museum ; and Professor Barboza du Bocage has sent me from 

 Lisbon the types of his Dendropicus congicus. When in Paris 

 I was enabled by the kindness of Professor Milne-Edwards 

 and Dr. Oustalet to take descriptions of D. sharpii ; and to 

 both of these gentlemen I tender my thanks. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Tarsus longer than outer posterior toe with its claw ; 



culminal ridge narrow and rounded ; nasal line in 

 the bill tolerably well defined and situated near the 

 culmeu, gradually vanishing away towards the an- 

 terior portion of the bill Geocolaptes. 



b. Tarsus shorter than outer posterior toe with its claw. 

 «\ Culminal ridge narrow and prominent, succeeded 



by a flattened shelf between the culminal ridge 

 and the nasal line, which is situated nearer to 

 the cutting-edge of the upper mandible than to 

 the culmen (measured at nostrils), and disap- 

 pears on the edge of the mandible at about two 

 thirds of its length. 



a^. Bill very long ; culmen much longer than tarsus Mesopicus. 



l)-. Bill much shorter; culmen not exceeding tarsus 



ui length Dendropicus*. 



* I think that Poliopicus of Cassin, if really a distinct genus, will 



