CLIMBERS. 295 
Finally, there are others—the Jacamar-Alceyon, which have only 
three toes. They inhabit Brazil*®. 
Picust, Lin. 
The Woodpeckers are well characterized by their long, straight, angular 
bill, the end of which is compressed into a wedge, and fitted for splitting 
the bark of trees; by their slender tongue, armed near the tip with spines 
that curve backwards, which, by the action of the elastic horns of the 
hyoid bone, can be thrust far out of the bill, and by their tail, composed 
of ten quills { with stiff and elastic stems, which acts as a prop in support- 
ing them while they are climbing. They are Climbers par excellence : 
they wander over trees in every direction, striking the bark off with their 
bills, and insinuating their long tongue into its cracks and crevices to ob- 
tain the larve of insects, on which they feed. This tongue, besides its 
armour, is constantly moistened with a viscid fluid, secreted by large sa- 
livary glands: it is drawn back into the bill by two muscles, which are 
wound round the trachea like ribands; in this state of retraction, the horns 
of the hyoid bone ascend under the skin and round the head, as far as the 
superior base of the bill, and the sheath of the tongue is doubled into folds 
in the bottom of the throat. Their stomach is nearly membranous, and 
they have no ceca, still they also eat fruit. Fearful and wary, they pass 
most of their time in a solitary manner; but during the pairing season 
they may frequently be heard summoning their females by loud and rapid 
tapping on a dry branch. They build their nests once a year in holes of 
trees, and each sex alternately broods upon the eggs. ‘There are six or 
seven species in Europe. 
P. martius, L.; Grand Pic noir, Enl. 596; Naum. 131. (The 
Great Black Woodpecker). Almost as large as a crow, and entirely 
black; a beautiful red forms a calotte in the male, but a mere spot 
on the occiput in the female. It prefers the pine forests of the 
north. 
P. viridis; Pic vert, En). 371; Naum. 132. (The Green Wood- 
pecker). Size ofa turtle-dove; green above; whitish beneath; the 
calotte red; rump yellow; one of the most beautiful birds of Europe. 
The young are marked with black spots beneath, and with white 
ones on the mantle. It prefers inhabiting the woodland plains, and 
is partial to the beech and elm. It also seeks food on the ground. 
P.canus, Gm.; Edw.65; Naum.133. A species closely allied 
to the preceding, but smaller, more of an ash colour, the bill more 
slender, and with a black moustache. The only red about the male 
is on the top of the head, and there is none on the female. It is not 
found far to the south, and is more rarely seen in France than the 
preceding, of whose habits it partakes. Its favourite food consists 
of ants. 
* Vaill. Jac. Sup. f. 1, and Spix, 57, 2, by the name of Aleyon tridactyla. 
+ Picus, the Latin name for these birds, given to them, it is said, by a king of 
Latium. ‘ 
t Strictly speaking, they axe twelve; but the lateral ones, which are verv small, 
are not counted. 
