THE SEARCHERS. 43' 



THE FIELD WOODPECKER. 



The Field Woodpecker {Geocolaptes campesiris) is an inhabitant of the South American prairies, 

 and represents a group that, unHke those ah'eady described, seek their principal food, not upon the 

 trunks of trees, but from the surface of the ground. The Field Woodpecker possesses a slightly- 

 curved bill, of about the same length as the head ; its wings are long, pointed, and powerful, their 

 fourth quill longer than the rest ; the strong tail is pointed, and the slender foot furnished with very 

 delicate toes. The variegated plumage is not very brightly tinted ; the cro\vn of the head and neck 

 are black ; the cheeks, throat, and upper breast golden yellow ; the back and wings pale yellow, 

 striped with blackish brown ; the lower portion of the back, the breast, and belly are whitish yellow, 

 each feather having black markings ; the quills are greyish brown, with gold-coloured shafts, the 

 primaries striped with white on the inner web, and the secondaries on both webs. The tail-feathers 

 are blackish brown, those at the exterior streaked with yellow on the outer, and those in the centre 

 on the inner web. The female is somewhat paler in hue than her mate. The eye is bright red, the 

 beak blackish grey, and the foot dull grey. 



The SOFT-TAILED WOODPECKERS {Picumnus) constitute a group of very small birds, with 

 long, straight, conical beaks, which are pointed at the tip. The shape of the leg and claw resembles 

 that of the True Woodpecker. The short wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills are the longest, 

 are very blunt and rounded ; the tail is composed of twelve soft, rounded feathers, the outermost 

 of which are very short ; the plumage is soft, and its feathers few and of unusual size. Most of these 

 birds inhabit South America ; Africa possesses one and India three species. We are almost entirely 

 without reliable particulars as to their habits. 



THE DWARF WOODPECKER. 

 The Dwarf Woodpecker {Picumnus minutus) is greyish brown on the mantle ; the under side 

 is white, streaked with black ; the crown of the he^d is black, delicately sprinkled with white ; the 

 brow of the male is red, that of the female is of the same colour as the rest of the head ; and the 

 blackish brown quills are edgeci with yellow. The tail-feathers are black ; those at the exterior have 

 a l?road white stripe on the outer, and those in the centre on the inner web. The eye is greyish 

 brown, the beak lead-colour at its base and blackish at the culmen and tip, the foot is lead-gre)\ 

 This small bird is only three inches and seven lines long and six inches broad ; the wing measures 

 one inch and ten lines, and the tail one inch. The Dwarf Woodpecker is met with in all the wooded 

 tracts of coast from Guiana to Paraguay, and is frequently seen in the immediate vicinity of the 

 houses. In summer it lives in pairs, in winter in small parties, that fly to a considerable distance over 

 the surrounding coast. 



The WRY-NECKS {Yunx) inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere, and are recognisable by their 

 slender body, long neck, small head, short blunt wing, in which the third quill is the longest, and a 

 broad soft tail of moderate size. The short, straight, conical beak is pointed, and but slightl)' 

 compressed at its sides ; the foot is furnished with four toes placed in pairs ; the plumage lax and 

 soft, and the very protrusile tongue of thread-like tenuity. 



THE WRY-NECK. 

 The Wry-neck ( Yuitx torquilld) is of a light grey on the upper portion of its body, marked and 

 spotted with a deeper shade ; the under side is white, sparsely sprinkled with dark triangular spots ; 



