i6 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



FARIILY PICID^. 



THE Woodpeckers and Wrynecks are allied to the Nightjars, Swifts, and Passeres 

 in their cranial characters, to the Kingfishers, Rollers and Bee-eaters in the 

 form of the breast-bone, but in the structure of their muscles and digestive organs to 

 the Kingfishers and Hoopoes. They have a long worm-like tongue, spined at the tip 

 and capable of being exserted for a considerable distance from the bill ; it is also 

 coated with a viscid secretion b}' the action of the salivary' glands. The toes are 

 specialty formed for climbing, two toes being placed in front and two behind ; the bill 

 is long and wedge-shaped ; the wings have ten primaries and the tail consists of from 

 ten to twelve feathers. 



Two Subfamilies of Woodpeckers are represented in the British Isles, the 

 Iy?igmcr (Wrynecks) and Piciucc (true Woodpeckers) : the former differ from the latter 

 in their somew^hat shorter bills, their tail-feathers, which are ten in number, soft, 

 instead of stiff and pointed, and their first primary small. 



All the Woodpeckers breed in holes, usually in trees, making no nest, but laying 

 their eggs on the rotten wood at the bottom of the hole ; the eggs are always pure 

 white and shining. The whole of the Picidcc are climbing birds, capable of running 

 up the trunk of a tree with great speed ; the true Woodpeckers obtain most of 

 their food b}' tapping on the bark until they discover a hollow spot into which they 

 dig with their strong bills extracting therefrom both larvae and insects, but the 

 Wrynecks and some of the Woodpeckers live largely upon ants, which they obtain 

 upon the ground, whilst some of the American species eat nuts, fruit, and probably 

 eggs. 



The flight of the Woodpeckers is somewhat irregular and undulating, and their 

 notes are mostly harsh. 



If hand-reared the Picidce are perhaps the most suitable of all the European 

 Picarice for avi cultural purposes ; but, as Swaysland observes : — " It is always 

 advisable to keep these birds separate from their own species, as they invariably 

 fight, and will even kill one another, as we can unfortunately vouch from experience. 

 The young had better be placed in separate baskets when about a fortnight old." 



