280 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Gen. Hemicircus, Swainson. 



Syn. Micropicus, !Malherbe. 



Char. — Bill straight, considerably compressed, the lateral ridge 

 slight, near the margin ; wings long, nearly reaching (when closed) 

 to the end of the tail ; tail very short, broad ; neck short, very 

 slender ; feet very large ; versatile toe always longer than the 

 anterior one. This is a small group of very peculiarly-coloured 

 Woodpeckers, of diminutive size and stout make, remarkable for 

 having no red whatever its plumage. 



165. Hemicircus canente, Lesson. 



Picus, apud Lesson, Cent. Zool, pi. 73 — Blytu, Cat. 241 — 

 HoRSF., Cat. 943 — H. cordatus, Jerdon, Cat. 206 — Jerdon, 

 111. Ind. Orn. pi. 40 (the smaller Indian race). 



The Heart-spotted Woodpecker. 



Descr. — Male, with the forehead and top of the head, a narrow 

 line in the middle of the interscapular region, rump, shoulders, lesser 

 wing-coverts, and a stripe from the lower mandible, running 

 below the ears, of a light whitish-yellow ; the wing-coverts and 

 tertiaries with a black heart-shaped spot near the tip of each 

 feather ; face, cheeks, long occipital crest, nape, scapulars, quills, 

 upper tail-coverts, and tail, deep black ; tertiaries greenish ; 

 middle of the back dull blackish-green ; beneath, chin and throat, 

 whitish-yellow ; from throat to vent dull blackish-green ; under 

 tail-coverts black. 



Bill bluish-black; legs dusky -green; irides brownish-red. 



Length 65 inches, wing 3f to 4; extent. 12 ; tail H; bill at 

 front y^jj ; foot l/^. 



The female differs from the male in having the forehead and 

 head black, with minute whitish spots. 



On the centre of the back is a brush of dark sap-green bristly 

 feathers, smeared with a viscid secretion from a gland beneath. 



This curious little Woodpecker is found in the forests of Mala- 

 bar, generally on high trees, and in pairs, both above and below the 

 Ghats. I have lately found it in forests in the Chanda district, South- 

 east of Nagpore. It also occurs in the Indo-chinese region, and there 



