104 



BIRD GALLKRY. 



peculiar type of coloration. The large genus Dendrocopus is represented 

 in England by two species, the Greater Spotted Woodpecker (D. major) 

 (1518) [PI. XXL] and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (D. minor) (1522), 

 the latter being shown with its nesting-hole on the floor of the Case. 

 Another species, which is said to have been twice procured in England, 

 is the American Hairy Woodpecker (D. villosus) (1523). Two well- 

 known European birds are the Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides 

 tridactylus) (1524), representing a genus in which the first toe is 

 wanting, and the Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) 

 (1520), noteworthy as having the sexes almost alike in plumage, the 

 crown of the female being only slightly less brilliant in colour. The 

 smallest members of the Picinte belong to the genus lyngipicus (1525), 

 and among the largest forms will be noted the Great Black Woodpecker 

 (Picus martins) (1513) of N. Europe, the still larger Ivory-billed Wood- 

 peckers of America, of which the Mexican species (Campophilus 

 imperialis] (1511) is shown, and the Great Slaty Woodpecker (Hemi- 

 lophus pulverulentus) (1495) from the Indo-Malayan countries. 



The second subfamily Picumninee includes about forty very small 

 Woodpeckers known as Piculets, with the tail-feathers very short and 

 rounded. They are distributed over Central and South America, West 

 Africa, and the Indian region. Representatives of two of the four 

 genera recognised will be found in Hargitt's Piculet (Picumnus un- 

 dulatus] (1515) from Guiana, and the Rufous Piculet (Sasia ochracea) 

 (1514) from North India and Burma, the latter possessing only three 

 toes, the first being absent. 



Of the Wrynecks, representing the third subfamily lynginae, four 

 species are known, all included in one genus, lynx. They are charac- 

 terised by their long tail, composed of soft flexible feathers, and by 

 their mottled plumage somewhat similar to that of the Nightjar. The 

 Common Wryneck or " Cuckoo's-mate " (I. torquilla} (1516), a well- 

 known summer-visitor to Great Britain, is found throughout almost 

 the whole of Europe and Asia and migrates southwards in winter to 

 India and Africa. As a nesting site it makes use of any convenient 

 hole in a tree, or occasionally in an earth-cutting or sand-bank. Its 

 food, which consists largely of ants, is mostly procured on the ground. 

 The other species, one of which (7. pectoralis) (1517) is shown, are 

 confined to Africa and have the fore-neck and chest rufous. 



Family V. BUCCONID^;. PUFF-BIRDS. 



[Case 67.] The Puff-birds are mostly dull-coloured birds, and natives of Central 

 and South America. They differ from the Woodpeckers in various 

 anatomical characters, and may be recognised externally by their stout 



