GECINUS. 363 



Genus GECINUS. 



The Green Woodpeckers were included by Linnaeus in his genus Picus, 

 and were first separated by Boie (' Isis/ 1831, p. 542) under the name of 

 Gecinus, the Green Woodpecker being designated as the type. 



It is not known that there are any structural characters by which the 

 Picinse may be divided into genera, but they may be separated according 

 to their prevailing colours into groups, which appear to be natural. In 

 the genus Gecinus the prevailing colour is green. As in most Woodpeckers, 

 the wings and tail are more or less barred, and the head is frequently 

 ornamented with scarlet, especially in the males. 



There are about twenty species and subspecies of Green Woodpeckers, 

 which are confined to the Palsearctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian Regions. 

 Three species are European, one of which is resident in the British Islands. 



The Green Woodpeckers differ very little in their habits from the other 

 members of this family ; but they feed more frequently on the ground, 

 where they search for ants and their larvae. Their note is loud and clear, 

 and their flight is very similar to that of the other Woodpeckers, as is also 

 their mode of nidification and the colour of their eggs. 



