74 



CLAss-AVES. 



ORDER-SCANS OKI. 



covered by membrane ; legs short, toes in pairs, the anterior pair closely 

 connected by membrane ; the external hind toe shorter than the inner ; 

 daws arched ; wings moderate sized, the three first quills shorter than the 

 fourth and fifth. 



2. Picas (Gr. n-ct'irw, / beat). Beak long, straight, and pyramidal, cut- 

 ting, and rather scissor-shaped towards the point ; nostrils basal, oval, and 

 o|>en ; in many species the head crested ; wings of moderate length ; tail 

 consisting of twelve quills, their webs coarse, elastic, and tapering to the 

 point ; legs strong ; toes two in front, connected to the first joint, and two 

 behind distinct ; more rarely only a single hind toe ; claws much curved. 



3. YUNX (Gr. "vyl, a bird which utters a shrill cry). Beak short, straight, 

 of a flattened cone shape, slender towards its tip, and its ridge rounded ; 

 nostrils basal, naked, and partially closed by membrane ; wings of moderate 

 length ; feet with two toes in front, joined together, and two behind, 

 divided ; tongue projectile, with a horny tip. 



4. PICUMSUS (Lat. Picus, a Woodpecker). Beak short, straight, conical ; 

 lower mandible of similar size and bulk with the upper, and both unnotched ; 

 nostrils basal, lateral, linear ; wings rounded ; tail very short ; tarsi short, 

 toes long and powerful, the front two connected as far as the first joint ; 

 the hind two divided, or only one single toe ; outer toes long and of equal 

 length, the inner short and equal also. 



The general characteristics of the " other genera " will be found further on. 



ZYGODACTYLA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



GALBULA. This genus is connected with the Kingfishers (Alcedo) by 

 the length and form of its bill, and the shortness of its legs ; it frequents 

 moist woods and lives entirely on insects. In some, which are natives of 

 America, the beak is quite straight, and among the Indian species some 

 have the beak shorter, larger, and a little curved ; thus connecting the genus 

 with the Bee-eaters (Merops) : their front toes are also more distinct. 

 Such are the Great Jacamar. (Plate 7.) 



PIBUS Woodpecker, This large group of birds is distributed all over 

 the world, except Australia ; but as they are especially adapted for climbing 

 trees, those countries in which large forests are common would naturally 

 induce a supposition that they should be found in greater numbers there 

 than elsewhere ; which turns out to be the case, as the greater number of 

 species are found in the tall and almost endless woods of America, and 

 among them are those species which more especially, by the greater deve- 

 lopment of their peculiar form, characterise the genus itself. Most of the 

 Woodpeckers are remarkable for the facility with which they run up the 

 nearly ]>erpendicular trunks of trees : the great length of their hind toes, 

 and the curving of their claws are particularly adapted for this purpose ; 

 and as in climbing the weight of the body is thrown much backwards, an 

 additional support or stret is provided in the tail feathers, which are very 

 strong and elastic, and which the bird has the power of depressing against 

 the trunk of the tree, so as to employ it as a rest and support, whilst it 

 moves one or other of its legs onwards. Some few species, however, do 

 not climb, but live almost entirely on the ground in open countries. The 

 teak also is an organ of great importance : in the larger species it is of con- 

 siderable size, and powerful muscles are attached to it, which enable these 

 birds to hollow out very large cavities in trees, wherein they make their 

 nests and deposit their eggs ; but the smaller species, in which the bill is 

 less powerful and more pointed, are obliged to content themselves with the 

 natural cavities in trees ; nor do they attempt to pierce the bark of trees, 

 beneath which insects and their larvae are found, as do the larger species, 

 but take only those which they can procure by thrusting their long and 

 extensile tongue into the clefts or other holes in the bark. When employed 

 in searching for insects, they strike their bill with considerable noise against 

 the bark, and which noise is commonly called tapping. The object of their 

 repeated strokes is to disturb the insects beneath, and to drive them to 

 those places where the bird can more readily get at them. It is a common 

 notion that the Woodpecker damages trees by perforating the bark ; this 

 however is incorrect ; on the contrary, his operations are advantageous, by 



freeing the tree from the noxious insects, which but for him would destroy 

 it, and which indeed frequently do so, notwithstanding the assiduous war- 

 fare of the Woodpecker. Wilson, in his " American Ornithology," has been 

 the able advocate of these industrious lalxmrers, and has shown the folly of 

 dooming them to indiscriminate slaughter. " Here then," says he, speaking 

 of the Downy Woodpecker, " is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds, 

 which Providence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and 

 forest trees from the ravages of vermin, which every day destroy millions 

 of those noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of the hus- 

 bandmen, and which even promote the fertility of the tree ; and, in return, 

 are proscribed by those who ought to have been their protectors, and incite- 

 ments and rewards held out for their destruction ! Let us examine better 

 into the operations of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions and 

 groundless prejudices will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane 

 modes of thinking." Of the specimen from which Wilson drew his descrip- 

 tion (the Ivory-bitted Woodpecker), he mentions, that having shot it near 

 Wilmington, but only in the wing, it uttered a "piteous note, exactly 

 resembling the violent crying of a young child," and that his horse was so 

 frightened that he nearly lost his life. In passing through the town its 

 cries were so affecting, that every one, women particularly, hurried to the 

 doors with alarm and anxiety. When he had reached his inn, and had 

 locked the bird up in his room, after an absence of an hour he returned, 

 when it set up the same distressing cry, which seemed to have arisen in 

 consequence of its attempt to escape by pecking away the lath and plaster 

 near the window being discovered, and in which attempt, if undisturbed 

 for another hour, it would have succeeded. Wilson then tied a string round 

 its leg, and fastened it to a table, but on his return the bird had almost 

 entirely rained the mahogany table, on which it had wreaked its vengeance ! 

 It nestles earlier in the spring than any other species, and Audubon has seen 

 it boring its hole in the beginning of March ; this is always made in a live 

 tree, generally an ash or hag-berry, and at a great height, and always with 

 regard to the situation of the tree and the inclination of its trunk. As they 

 prefer solitude, and are anxious to protect their hole from beating rains, it 

 is is therefore generally dug under the junction of a large branch with the 

 trunk, and in a spiral course. It is sometimes not more than ten inches 

 deep, but at other times three feet. Both birds work hard at their job, 

 one sitting outside to encourage the other, the place of which it takes when 

 tired. Sometimes there is but one brood, but occasionally there are two, 

 and the latter then appears about the 15th of August. Their food is prin- 

 cipally beetles, larvae, and large grubs. 



The species are numerous, being about seventy-six, divided into Wood- 

 peckers with four toes, two in front and two behind, and Woodpeckers 

 with three toes, two before and one behind. 



The Great Black Woodpecker (P. Martius), represented on Plate 7, is a 

 species of the first division : it is about sixteen or seventeen inches long ; 

 in the male the whole of the top of the head is bright red, but in the female 

 only a small patch on the back of the head. All the rest of the plumage 

 deep black ; beak bluish-white, with a black tip. Their flight is undulating, 

 and rarely for any greater distance than from tree to tree. It is a native of 

 the northern parts of Europe; is rare in Germany and France, and extremely 

 rare in England. 



The Southern Three-toed Woodpecker (P. Tridactylus), a species of the 

 second division (Plate 7), measures nine inches in length; upper part of 

 the head bright red, rest of the head and upper parts of the neck and body 

 black, transversely barred with white ; upon the cheek a white band ; alar 

 quills white, marked with regular black spots like scales; the four middle 

 tail-quills black, the others varied with white and ferruginous ; throat, front 

 of the neck, chest, and belly white ; sides of the body and under wing- 

 coverts streaked with black ; legs ashy ; claws brown. The female has no 

 red badge on the head, nor any white markings on the back and rump. 

 This species is a native of Guiana, and very rarely penetrates the southern 

 parts of North America. 



YUNX Wryneck. This genus, although provided with similar feet to 

 the Woodpeckers, does not make use of its tail as a prop in climbing, for 



