438 



PHYLLIUM PICUCULI. 



PHYLLIUM Walking-leaf Insects (Latreille). 

 A genus of orthopterous insects, belonging to the 

 family PHASMID/E (which see), and forming the type 

 of the second sub-family Phyllides, which consists of 

 the genera Phyllium and Prisopus, divided by Gray 

 into several others. In Phyllium the females are not 

 furnished with posterior wings, and their antenna) 

 are very minute ; whilst in Prisopus the females have 

 both wings and wing-covers, and their antenna; are 

 of moderate length. The Prisopus hurridns, figured in 

 our plate of orthopterous insects, is from Mexico, and 

 has not before been represented. 



PHYLLOSOMA (Leach). A genus of crusta- 

 cea, belonging to the order Stomapoda, and forming 

 the type of the second family Bipcltata, Latreille, 

 (Pln/llosomidee). These curious animals are called 

 glass-crabs, from the slender and transparent form of 

 their bodies, which is very flat and membranous, 

 divided into two shield-like plates, the anterior very 

 large and oval, forming the head, and the second, or 

 thorax, transverse and angulated. The legs are very 

 long and slender, and each is furnished with a small 

 ciliated branch. These delicate creatures are found 

 in the tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 

 and one has been discovered in the Mediterranean. 

 When alive they are entirely colourless, except the 

 eyes, which are of a rich blue. There are several 

 species described by Leach and Guerin. 



PICUCULI (Dendrocopus). A genus of anizo- 

 dactylic birds, nearly agreeing in the structure of the 

 feet with the creepers of Europe, but in some other 

 respects partaking of the characters of the wood- 

 peckers. They have been variously classed by writers 

 on ornithology, being distributed through various 

 genera, and not agreeing very well with either of 

 them. They were first brought out of this confusion 

 and formed into a separate genus by Temminck ; and, 

 though they vary a good deal in size in the different 

 species, the genus is far from being an ill-defined one. 

 The generic characters are : the bill depressed and 

 triangular at the base, compressed or slender at the 

 point, not furnished with a tooth, straight in some 

 species and curved in others, and with scarcely any 

 nasal grooves ; the nostrils are placed laterally at the 

 base of the bill, they are oval and open ; the tongue 

 is cartilaginous, but short, and has none of the peculiar 

 characters of the tongues of woodpeckers ; the feet 

 are of mean size, and the tarsus is never longer than 

 the middle toe, and sometimes a little shorter ; the 

 external and middle toes are of equal length, and 

 united as far as the second joint ; the inner front toe 

 is very short ; and all the toes are furnished with 

 very sharp and crooked claws, furrowed on their 

 under sides so as to be able to keep their hold upon 

 very slight inequalities of the bark of a tree ; the 

 wings are of moderate length and rounded, the fourth 

 and fifth quills being the longest ; but the quills fall 

 upon and support each other in a way which gives 

 great firmness to the point of the wing ; the tail is 

 wedge-shaped, or rather oval, at its extremity ; the 

 shafts of the feathers in it are remarkably strong and 

 stiff, and have firm points beyond the webs, as in the 

 woodpeckers. 



From the structure of the tail, we can easily infer 

 that these birds can make use of that organ as a support, 

 while they hold on with the claws upon the upright 

 stem of a tree. In consequence of the structure of 

 the feet, they cannot hold on so firmly or so long as 

 the woodpeckers ; but the same structure which ren- 



ders them inferior in this respect renders them 

 rior in another, namely, in running in all directions 

 along the bark as the creepers do. It is probable 

 that they are not quite so dexterous in this way a: 

 the creepers, the rapidity and variety of whose mo 

 tions are truly wonderful ; but the support of the tai 

 enables them to perform severer labour at one place 

 Their bills, though rather firm and strong, are no 

 equal to the task of making a hole in wood, or evei 

 in hard bark, and the absence of a notch shows tha 

 the birds do not feed upon large insects. We knov 

 but little of their manners, because they remain in th 

 forests, and move so nimbly, that it is difficult to ge 

 a sight of them. It is the same with the creeper. It i 

 far from being a rare bird in the extensive woods c 

 Britain ; and yet one may pass fifty times throug 

 a wood without seeing one. It is understood tha 

 the picuculis pick out, from the little crevices of th 

 bark, the insects, larva?, and eggs, which have bee 

 deposited there ; and, from the numbers and activit 

 of the birds, the services which they render in thi 

 way must tend greatly to preserve the trees. The 

 are understood to nestle in the holes of trees, thoug 

 they never excavate holes for themselves ; their egg 

 vary from four to six, and they are very attentive t 

 their nests. 



They are distributed through all the wooded par 

 of South America, and so far as is known they ai 

 peculiar to that country. They also appear to I: 

 more numerous in Paraguay and Brazil, than in tb 

 valleys of the Amazon and Orinoco, or on the ric 

 shores of Guiana, although in all probability the app; 

 rent difference arises as much from the difficulty < 

 seeing them in the very close forests of the places la 

 mentioned. 



It is to be regretted that we know so little of 

 genus of birds containing seventeen or eighteen sp 

 cies, all confined to one locality of the world, and n 

 at work in preventing the trees from being attackt 

 by their smallest and most dangerous destroyer 

 Their presence in South America and in no oth 

 place, shows that the trees there want protection in 

 manner a little different from those any where els 

 Before, however, any thing like correct infbrrnatic 

 respecting the forests of South America and the 

 living inhabitants can be obtained, the relations mu 

 be traced between all the races of birds which are 

 work upon and among the trees, and the relat'r 

 value of each carefully estimated. If done, this \vou 

 be a work of great value ; but the labour of doing 

 would be immense, if not altogether insurmountabl 

 We shall mention only one or two of the species. 



Great Picucn/i (D. major}. This species is fro 

 Paraguay, and is the largest of the known ones, beii 

 more than twelve inches in length. The gener 

 plumage is a reddish-yellow brown, streaked wi 

 black and white on the fore neck and breast, ar 

 there are also some streaks of blackish colour on tl 

 rest of the under part. The bill is large, a little ber 

 and of a blue colour ; and the feet are greenish. 



Straight-billed Picuculi (1). angustirostris'). This 

 also from Paraguay, and about three inches in lengt 

 It is russet-brown on the upper part ; has a w hi 

 streak over each eye ; and the top of the head, tl 

 nape, and sides of the neck, mottled with black ai 

 white. Wing-coverts and tips of the quills brow 

 but the bastard wing white ; the throat is also whit 

 and the rest of the under parts whitish, clouded wi 

 brown spots. The bill is brown on the upper ma 



