234 piciD.E. 



length as they approach the sixth pair or outer feathers, which 

 are one inch and a third shorter than the middle pair. These 

 tail feathers are very pointed, and their shafts are the same as 

 in the former species, like whalebone, and hollow or grooved 

 on the under surface. The beak of the Green Woodpecker 

 is one and three-fourths of an inch long, six lines broad at 

 the base and five lines high : the upper mandible is slanting 

 and somewhat arched towards the tip, but the under mandi- 

 ble is quite straight, and rather shorter than the upper ; the 

 nostrils are oval, and placed near the base on the groove of 

 the upper mandible. The iris is pearl white. 



The tongue is seven inches and a half long from the root 

 to the tip, and able to project six inches beyond the tip of 

 the beak. The legs are strong, and covered with large scales 

 in front and small ones at the back, the tops of the toes 

 covered closely with scales, between which they seem to be 

 filled up with clay, and the soles of the feet are warty. The 

 arched claws are large in size, compressed at the sides, and 

 very sharp. The colour of the legs is a greyish-lead, tinged 

 with green, the soles brownish, the claws yellowish-dusky. 

 The length of the tarsi is one inch three lines, the outer 

 front toe with the claw one inch six lines, the inner hinder toe 

 with the claw seven lines. All woodpeckers, having two toes 

 before and two behind, are well adapted for running up or 

 climbing among the trees. 



The feathering of the adult male of the Green Woodpecker 

 is most beautiful, and that of a living specimen is not to be 

 represented by colouring. The forehead is jet black, the top 

 and back of the head and nape of the neck covered with a 

 crimson crest of smooth, elongated feathers, ending in a point 

 at the nape, and most brilliant towards the hinder part : from 

 the base of the beak, over and around the eyes, extends a jet 

 black patch, ending in a point behind the eye ; also from the 

 base of the under mandible proceeds a patch of the same 



