General 
descrip- 
tion. 
Young 
bird. 
102 ZYGODACTYLI. PICUS. Woovrecker. 
Tail black, with a few small white oblong spots along 
the shafts of the feathers, the tips white. Legs lemon- 
yellow, the outer hind-toe being reversible. The female 
differs in no respect from the male. 
m4 & 
Prate 43. Fig. Vst Represents a young cuckoo, as recei- 
ving food from its foster-parent, a meadow pipit. 
The upper parts of the plumage are of a deep clove-brown 
colour, tinged with grey, margined and spotted with 
reddish-brown. Feathers upon the forehead margined 
with white, and on the hind-part of the head is a patch 
of white. The oval spots on the inner webs of the 
quills reddish-brown. Throat and under parts yellow- 
ish-white, with transverse black bars. Inrides liver- 
brown. Legs and toes primrose-yellow. 
DIVISION IT. 
Having the Bill strait and angular. 
Genus XII. WOODPECKER. PICUS, Linn. - 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill as long as, or longer than the head, straight, conical, 
compressed, culminated, angular, and wedge-shaped at the 
point. Tongue long and extensile, worm-shaped. Nostrils 
basal, oval and open, concealed by the reflected bristly fea- 
thers at the base of the bill. Wings with the first quill very 
short, the second of mean length, the third and fourth the 
longest. Tail composed of twelve, sometimes ten, elastic, 
stiff, and sharp-pomted feathers. Feet robust, formed for 
climbing ; two toes before, and two behind ; the two anterior 
ones joined at their base, the posterior ones divided ; armed 
with very strong and hooked claws. The birds of this genus 
inhabit the forests, and live solitary. Ave true climbers, and 
move along the trunks and branches of trees readily, but al- 
