176 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. They are, on the whole, most 

 useful, destroying insects injurious to timber. 



CAPTIVITY. They live well if reared from the nest, 

 but are very quarrelsome with each other ; they 

 become very tame and make good pets. They have 

 not been bred, in England at all events. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. This family, 

 numbering nearly three hundred and fifty species, 

 is found all over the world except in the Aus- 

 tralian region, almost always in wooded country, 

 though a few frequent the ground or rocks ; they 

 are, on the whole, resident, few being migratory. 

 The family includes three sections, the typical 

 Woodpeckers (Picina), with the typical structure 

 and habits of the family, and found throughout 

 its range ; the Piculets (Picumnincz), tiny birds 

 with rather the habits of tits, and numbering 

 only a few species, found in West Africa, South-East 

 Asia, and South America ; and Wrynecks (lyngince], 

 with very finely-pencilled plumage and normal tails, 

 including our well-known migratory species and a 

 few others, confined to the Old World outside 

 Australia. Our commonest Woodpecker in Eng- 

 land is the Green (Gecinus viridis,) about the size 

 of a pigeon, olive-green, with red crown and yellow 

 patch above tail ; in India the Golden-backed 

 (Brachypternus aurantius), with the crown red 

 and upper surface dull golden, is the best known ; 

 and in North America the Golden-winged or Flicker 

 (Colaptes auratus), a dove-brown bird, with spotted 

 breast, barred back, and red .crescent on the 

 back of head, and with the quill-shafts bright 

 golden yellow. 



