5 66 



PICARIAN BIRDS. 



face feathered, and are chiefly represented in the New World, the last-named genus 

 being peculiar to the island of San Domingo. Verreauxia and Sasia, the other 

 two genera of piculets, are Old World forms, the former being an inhabitant of the 

 forest-district of West Africa, and the latter of the Indian region. The largest of 

 the piculets does not exceed 5 inches in length, and many of them are not more than 

 3 inches. 



Until recently these tiny woodpeckers (Picummis) were supposed 

 to be peculiar to South America, which contains no less than thirty- 

 two species, but in certain parts of the Indian region a similar green piculet is 

 found, together with a second species in Southern China ; and Mr. Hargitt has 



Green Piculets. 



BRAZILIAN PICULET. 



come to the conclusion that these Oriental birds are absolutely of the same form as 

 the South American ones ; the resemblance being carried even to the pattern of 

 the tail, which is peculiar among birds ; not only are the centre feathers half white, 

 but the outer feathers are also for the most part white, arid these characteristic 

 markings run through the whole of the species, be they American or Oriental. 

 Of the American species, although so numerous, scarcely any details of habits have 

 been published, except that they seem to act the parts of tiny woodpeckers ; but 

 of the Indian species (P. innominatus) a little more is known. Inhabitants of 

 the Himalaya and the adjacent ranges, reoccurring in the the Wynaad and 

 extending down the high mountains of the Burmese Provinces, the Malayan 

 Peninsula, Sumatra, and Northern Borneo, these piculets nest in holes which they 

 excavate themselves, laying as many as seven eggs, as Mr. Thomson says that he 



