INTEODFOTION. 7 1 



but a Bird the very existence of which would seem to be abso- 

 lutely dependent on thera is the Woodpecker. 



The Great Black Woodpecker {Picus martins), a Bird that 

 seems to have been once or twice seen in England, and our 

 Green Woodpecker (Gecinus viridis) — the loud cry, or "laugh," 

 oi: which is so conimonly to be heard — are examples of a very 

 krge and very distinct family of Birds. 



There are about three hundred and fifty different kinds of 

 Woodpeckers, but though so much more numerous in species 

 than the Kingfishers, there are none in Australia any more 

 than in Madagascar or Polynesia — none passing beyond Celebes. 

 As might be expected, they are most abundant in the enormous 

 forest-regions of South America, though, strange to say, 

 a Woodpecker (Colaptes campestris) is to be found more to the 

 south, in the plains of La Plata, where there is not a single tree 

 to peck. 



The handsomely marked English Bird, which, from its habit 

 of twisting its neck from side to side, is known as the Wryneck 

 (Jynx torquilla), and which will hiss like a snake, is one of a 

 small group of four species of the Woodpecker family. 



A very numerous and remarkable group of Birds, for the 

 most part great climbers of trees, is formed by the Parrots, 

 whereof the common Grey Parrot ^Psittcccus erithaeus), from 

 Africa, may be taken as a type. Amongst Parrots, in the wide 

 sense in which the term is here used, we include Macaws, 

 Cockatoos, Ground-parrotsp Grass-parrakeets, Love-birds, &c. 

 They have all a most unmistakable family resemblance, though 

 there are, at the very least, four hundred and ninety-two kinds 

 of them. They are especially tropical Birds, but they are 

 also to be found in the temperate parts of Australia and in 

 New Zealand. Australia, indeed, contains the most varied 

 forms, though South America is the region which has the 

 greatest number of species. Africa is poorly supplied with 

 Parrots in comparison with the other warmer parts of the 

 world. No representative of the group now exists in Europe, 

 although fossil remains indicate that such was not always the 

 case. A Parrakeet (Conuriis carolinensis) still exists in Florida, 

 and was abundant in the United States, further north, eighty 

 years ago. 



One of the most curious species is called the Owl-parrot 

 (Stringops hahroptilus), on account of its extraordinary and most 

 exceptional resemblance to an Owl. It is found only in New 



