300 lilUDS OF INDIA. 



meous; while, in the description, he gays 'lively red;' and he 

 further Btates, that it closely resembles C. tifja, hut is smaller. 

 Malherhe describes his bird as 8^ inches long ; wing 4f ; tail 

 ?)\ ; bill at gape not f^uite ly% ; which is slightly smaller than mine 

 by measurement. 



Sub-fam. Picu3Inin;e, Piculets. 



Bill short, ^traijiht, somewhat conic ; tail short or moderate, soft ; 

 ■win;^s long ; tongue long, extensile ; feet as in tlie true Wo<jd- 

 peckers. 



The Piculets chiefly differ from the Woodpeckers by their 

 diminutive size, and the soft broad feathers of the tail, which are 

 twelve in number; and, as previously noticed, the members of the 

 frenus Yunfjipicu>s\rdV(i the penultimate tail-feather soft, and thus may 

 be i?aid to grade towards the present group. Severals species are 

 known; three being from the Indian region, and the greater number 

 from America. They are said to breed in holes of trees, and to lay 

 two (though probably a greater number of) white eggs. 



Gen. ViviA, 11 odgs. 



Syn. I'icumnu8, Temrn., apud Swainson, Blyth, and Burton. — 

 ricnlm, ilodgs. 



Char. — Bill moderate, straight, conic, cornpressed, acuminate; 

 nostrils round, covered by incumbent setaceous plumes ; tip of the 

 upper mandible truncate, of the lower one pointed ; rictus bristled ; 

 wings moderate, or rather long, rounded ; 5th quill longest ; 4th 

 nearly equal to it; 1st quill very short; tail soft, vary short and 

 llcxible, of twelve feathers ; the six medial feathers being even, the 

 six laterals graduated; outer posterior and anterior toes nearly 

 equal ; claws strong, large, sharp, and well-curved. 



Thefcc little birds arc nearly related to the Woodpeckers In their 

 general anatomy ; and their tongue is strictly picine. 



18G. Vivia innominata, Burton. 



Picumnufi, apud Bukton, [\ Z. S., 18:i.O -liLyui, Cat. .'JOB— 

 lloiiSF., Cat. U'J?j—V. IS'ipalensIs, 11oj>gson, J. A. S., Vi., 107-- 

 Piculus rufifrons, JIoDOHOxS (the female) — Wi-ivi, in Nepal — 

 Dang chim-pfiOf Lepch. 



