THE SEARCHERS. 27 



culmen. The short, strong feet turn inwards ; the toes are long, and placed in pairs, the exterior pair 

 being connected as far as the first joint ; the hinder toe, which is the smallest of all, is so situated as 

 to pair with the innermost and longest toe ; in some instances this short fourth toe is but slightly- 

 developed, or entirely wanting ; the claws are long, strong, very sharp, and much hooked. The wings 

 are rounded, and of medium size ; their ten primaries are narrow and pointed, whilst the secondaries 

 (from nine to ten in number) are broader, but not much shorter, than the primary quills. Of these 

 latter, the first is very small, those next in order graduated to the third or fourth, which is the longest. 

 The very remarkable tail is formed of ten large and two small feathers. These latter are placed above 

 instead of under the rest ; the centre tail-feathers are the largest, and very stiff. The strangely 

 constructed tongue, by the aid of which the Woodpeckers are enabled to capture the small insects 

 upon which they in a great measure subsist, is sharp, barbed, pointed, and endued with a glutinous 

 secretion, derived from glands situated in the throat, and communicating with the mouth by two long 

 ducts, the glutinous coating being thus renewed every time the tongue is drawn within the bill. The 

 plumage of these birds is thick ; the feathers on the head (which in some species form a crest) are 

 small and slender, whilst those on the hinder parts of the body are short and broad. The 

 Woodpeckers inhabit the woods and forests of both hemispheres, and are especially numerous in 

 warm latitudes. Fruits, seeds, and insects constitute their food, and in pursuit of the latter they 

 exhibit wonderful dexterity — climbing \vith astonishing activity upon the trunks and branches of 

 trees ; and when, by tapping with their bills, a rotten place has been discovered, they dig at once 

 vigorously in search of the grub or larvte snugly embedded beneath the bark — thus rendering 

 inestimable service to man, by destroying hosts of insects. 



The Woodpeckers both roost and breed in hollow trunks, or holes in trees, enlarged to the 

 requisite size by the aid of their strong, sharp mandibles. The eggs, which are smooth, glossy, and 

 white, vary considerably in number ; they are deposited upon a bed of chips, or debris, placed at the 

 bottom of the hole selected for their reception. 



The BLACK WOODPECKERS {Dryocopus) comprise the largest and most powerful of the 

 race, and are at once recognisable by the crest that adorns their head, and the prevalence of black 

 in the coloration of their plumage. America must be regarded as the central home of these birds, 

 as there several kinds inhabit every latitude ; whilst, in the Eastern Hemisphere, but one species is 

 met with in Europe, and few are found even in India, 



THE EUROPEAN BLACK WOODPECKER. 



The European Black Woodpecker {Dryocopus martins) has the plumage of a unifonn black, 

 with the exception of the top of the head, which is of a bright crimson ; in the female the bright 

 feathers qre limited to a small patch at the back of the head. The eye of both sexes is pale yellow, 

 the beak pearl-grey, tipped with blueish grey, and the foot lead-colour. The young closely resemble 

 the adult birds. This species is from seventeen to eighteen inches long, and twenty-eight to t^vent^'■- 

 nine broad. The wing, in which the fifth quill is the longest, covers two-thirds of the tail, which 

 measures from six inches to six inches and a half ; the tarsus is almost entirely covered with feathers, 

 and exceeds the centre toe and claw in length. The strong beak is broader than it is high, and 

 straight at its culmen. 



Although all the wooded tracts of Europe, from sixty-eight degrees north latitude as far as Greece 

 and Spain, are inhabited by the Black Woodpecker, it is seldom met with in England, and is but 

 rarely seen in Holland. It also frequents Asia, as far as the northern side of the Himalayas. 

 Everywhere fir and pine forests are its favourite resorts, even when these extend over mountain 



