CLIMBERS. 295 



Finally, there are others — the Jacamar'Alcyon, which have only- 

 three toes. They inhabit Brazil*. 



Pic'jsf , Lin. 



The Woodpeckers are well characterized by their long, straight, angular 

 bill, the end of which is compressed into a wedge, and fitted for splitting 

 the bark of trees; by their slender tongue, armed near the tip with spines 

 that curve backwards, -which, by the action of the elastic horns of the 

 hyoid bone, can be thrust far out of the bill, and by their tail, composed 

 of ten quills J with stiff and elastic stems, which acts as a prop in support- 

 ing thera while they are climbing. They are Climbers par excellence : 

 they wander over trees in every direction, striking the bark off with their 

 bills, and insinuating their long tongue into its cracks and crevices to ob- 

 tain the larvffi of insects, on which they feed. This tongue, besides its 

 armour, is constantly moistened with a viscid fluid, secreted by large sa- 

 livary glands : it is drawn back into the bill by two muscles, which are 

 wound round the trachea like ribands ; in this state of retraction, the horns 

 of the hyoid bone ascend under the skin and round the head, as far as the 

 superior base of the bill, and the sheath of the tongue is doubled into folds 

 in the bottom of the throat. Their stomach is nearly membranous, and 

 they have no casca, still they also eat fruit. Fearful and wary, they pass 

 most of their time in a solitary manner; but during the pairing season 

 they may frequently be heard summoning their females by loud and rapid 

 tapping on a dry branch. They build their nests once a year in holes of 

 trees, and each sex alternately broods upon the eggs. There are six or 

 seven species in Europe. 



P.ma-dius,L.; Grand Pic noir, Enl. 596; Naura. 131. (The 

 Great Black Woodpecker). Almost as large as a crow, and entirely 

 black ; a beautiful red forms a calotte in the male, but a mere spot 

 on the occiput in the female. It prefers tlie pine forests of the 

 north. 



P. viridis; Pic vert, Enl. 371 ; Naum. 132. (The Green Wood- 

 pecker). Size of a turtle- dove ; green above; whitish beneath; the 

 calotte red ; rump yellow ; one of the most beautiful birds of Europe. 

 The young are marked with black spots beneath, and with white 

 ones on the mantle. It prefers inhabiting the woodland plains, and 

 is partial to the beech and elm. It also seeks food on the ground. 



P. canus, Gm.; Edw. 65; Naum. 133. A species closely allied 

 to the preceding, but smaller, more of an ash colour, the bill more 

 slender, and with a black moustache. The only red about the male 

 is on the top of the head, and there is none on the female. It is not 

 found far to the south, and is more rarely seen in France than the 

 preceding, of whose habits it partakes. Its favourite food consists 

 of ants. 



• Vaill. Jac. Sup. f. 1, and Spix, 57, 2, by the name of Alcyon iridactyla. 



t Picus, the Latin name for these birds, given to them, it is said, by a king of 

 Latium. 



X Strictly speaking, they aie twelve; but the lateral ones, which are verv small, 

 are not counted. 



