PICID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 491 



Family FICIDiE. — The Woodpeckers. 



Char. Outer toe turned backwards permanently, not versatile laterally, the basal 

 portion of the tongue capable of great protrusion. 



The preceding characters combined ajjpear to express the essential char- 

 acters of the Picidcc. In addition, it mav be stated that the tonu^ue itself is 

 quite small, Hat, and short, acute and horny, usually :irmeu along the edges 

 with recurved liooks. The horns of the hyoid apparatus are generally very 

 long, and curve round the back of the skull, frequently to the base of the 

 bill, i)laying in a sheath, when the tongue is thrown forward out of the 

 mouth to transfix an insect. 



There are twelve tail-feathers, of which the outer is, however, very small 

 and rudimentary (lying concealed between the outer and adjacent feathei's), 

 so that only ten are usually counted. Tlie tail is uparly even, or cuneate, 

 never forked, the shafts very rigid in the true Woodpeckers ; soft in Picumni- 

 ncc and Yungincc. The outer primary is generally Aery short, or spurious, 

 but not wanting. The bill is chisel or wed^e shaped, with sharp angles 

 and ridges and straight culmen ; sometimes the culmen is a little curved, 

 in which case it is sniootlier, and without the ridges. The tarsi in the Xorth 

 American forms are covered with large plates anteriorly, posteriorly with 

 small ones, usually more or less polygonal. The claws are compressed, 

 much curved, verv stroncj and acute. 



The Picidcc are found all over the world with the exception of Madagascar, 

 Australia, the Moluccas, and Polynesia. America is well provided witli 

 them, more than half of the described species belonging to the New World. 



The subfamilies of the PicUla' may be most easily distinguished as follows, 

 although other characters could readily be given : — 



Picinae. Tail-feathers pointed, and lanceolate at end ; the shafts very 

 rigid, thickened and elastic. 



Ficumninse. Tail soft and short, about half the length ot^wing ; the feath- 

 ers without stiffened shafts, rather narrow, linear, and rounded at end. 

 Yunginae. Tail soft- and rather long, about three fourths the length of 

 wing; the feathers broad, and obtusely rounded at end. 



Of these subfamilies the Plcinm alone occur north of Mexico. The 

 Yung ina\ to v{\\iQ\\ the well-known Wryneck of England {Jynx torquilla) 

 belongs, are exclusively Old World; the Picumnincc belong principally to 

 the tropical regions of America, although a few species occur in Africa and 

 India. One species, Picvmnvs micromcgas, Sundevall, belongs to St. Do- 

 mingo, although erroneously assigned to Brazil. This is the giant of the 

 group, being about the size of the White-bellied Xuthatch {Sitta caroh'mnsis) 

 the other species being mostly very diminutive, varying from three to four 

 inches in lemith. 



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