VI 



PICIDAE 



465 



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 

 ground they are awkward and move with constant hops. The 

 extensile and worm-like tongue is not barbed at the tip. lynx 

 torquilla, the Cuckoo's-mate or Snake-bird, is fairly common in 



Fig. 97. Wryneck. lynx torquilla. 



f. (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 /. pulchricollis occurring in East Equatorial 

 Africa, and /. 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 Piciis and Jlomolopiis have been 

 found respectively in the Lower and Middle Miocene of France. 



VOL. IX 2 H 



