WOODPECKKRS. 



103 



Family IV. Picidte. WooDPECKEas. (Plate XXI.) 



This large and important family of seansorial birds with zygodac- [Case 60 

 tylous feet, including nearly four hundred specieSj ranges over almost 

 the whole of the temperate and tropical regions of the world, but is 

 absent from Madagascar, Polynesia, and Australia. It is divided into 

 three subfamilies : the true Woodpeckers {Picince), the Piculets {Picum- 

 nince) , and the Wrynecks {lyngina) . The bill is generally strong and 

 wedge-shaped and modified into a powerful cutting weapon. With the 

 chisel-like tip of the upper mandible propelled by the powerful neck- 

 muscles, the bird can cut away the bark of trees to look for insects, 

 open with ease hard-shelled fruits such as uuts, and make deep holes in 

 the trunks or branches for its nest. In the ground-feeding forms, such 

 as the species of Colaptes (1490), the bill is more curved. The tongue is 

 excessively long and vermiform, pointed and barbed at the tip and cap- 

 able of great protrusion ; it is supplied with sticky mucus from the large 

 salivary glands, which causes insects, their larvae and eggs to adhere to 

 it. In nearly all the cornua or " horns '^ of the hyoid bone which 

 supports the tongue are of enormous length, and slide round the skull, 

 passing in a muscular sheath from the side of the gullet round the 

 occiput to the base of the upper mandible. This extraordinary struc- 

 ture is well shown in the preparations of the head of the Green Wood- 

 pecker {Gecinus viridis) (1496, 1497) exhibited in the Case. 



The eggs are round and glossy, and the young when hatched are 

 naked. 



The subfamily Picime includes the great bulk of the species, 

 distinguished by having the tail composed of stiff pointed feathers 

 which support the bird when climbing. Of the species which feed on 

 the ground, examples will be found in Geocolaptes olivaceus (1489) of 

 S. Africa, and the Golden-winged Woodpecker or Flicker {Colaptes 

 auratus) (1490) of N. America. The genus Gecinus includes a number 

 of nearly allied species, the most familiar being the Green Woodpecker 

 or '' Yaffle '^ {G. viridis) (1492), a common resident in many parts of 

 England and Wales, and ranging across Europe to Persia. It feeds 

 largely on ants, and may frequently be seen on the ground. Lewis's 

 Woodpecker {Asyndesmus torquatus) (1494), of Western N. America, 

 is remarkable in having the feathers of the collar and underparts 

 with the barbs disconnected. [See preparation.] Another handsome 

 American genus is Melanerpes (1507-1510), of which five tynes are 

 shown, the Ant-eating species {M.formicivorus) (1621), exhibited on the 

 floor of the Case, being depicted in the act of laying up its winter store 

 of nuts which it places in holes in the bark. The Kufous Woodpecker 

 {Micropternus phteoceps) (1502), from South-eastern Asia, represents a 



