370 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Woodpeckers. 



tenaciously to the bark of trees. The orthonyx is 

 in fact a ground-cJimber : it frequents rough banks, 

 broken plots of ground, and similar localities, which 

 it explores, traversing the irregularities of the ground, 

 and the mouldering trunks of fallen trees, in quest 

 of coleopterous insects, which appear to form its 

 chief food. In its progress it is greatly assisted by 

 its tail, which is generally found to be considerably 

 worn, as in the specimens Mr. Gould has kindly 

 permitted us to examine. This bird is a native of 

 Australia, and, according to M. Lesson, of New 

 Zealand ; but Mr. Gould has proved, by dissection, 

 that traveller to be wrong respecting the sexes : 

 M. Lesson says that the throat of the male is orange- 

 coloured, that of the female white ; the reverse is 

 the case. 



The general colour is a rusty brown above, line- 

 ated with black ; the lesser wing-coverts are grey 

 streaked with brown ; the tail is dusky brown, with 

 the stiff shafts prolonged beyond the webs. In the 

 male the throat and upper part of the breast is 

 white : in the female rufous orange. The bill is 

 short and stout, compressed at the sides : the wings 

 are rounded ; the feet large and strong ; the tarsi 

 elevated, in accordance with terrestrial habits; the 

 feathers of the top of the head are capable of being 

 elevated and depressed at pleasure. Size that of a 

 lark. Of the two figures, the lower is the male, the 

 upper the female. 



Family PICIBJE (WOODPECKERS, &c.) 

 The birds of this family are essentially scansorial ; 

 their feet are adapted for clinging to the bark of 

 trees, and they ascend the stems and branches with 

 the greatest facility. Their food, for the most part, 

 consists of insects, which they search for in the 

 crevices and underneath the bark of unsound trees, 

 or in the very wood of such as exhibit symptoms of 

 decay; fruits, however, are not altogether excluded. 

 The first group of this family to" which we shall 

 direct, our attention is that of the Barbets. The 

 barbets are distinguished by the beak being large, 

 conical, swollen at the sides of its base, and garnished 

 with five tufts of long bristles, one on each side 

 •over the nostrils, one at the angle of the gape on 

 each side, and one under the lower mandible. The 

 wings are short, the general proportions heavy, and 

 the flight low. They live on insects and fruits, and 

 breed in the holes of trees. They are indigenous in 

 both continents, and associate for the most part in 

 small flocks, which separate during the breeding- 

 season into pairs. Many of the barbets are richly 

 coloured; such as the Bucco grandis, a native of 

 China and the range of the Himalayan Mountains. 

 This group of scansorial birds is divided into various 

 genera, as Pogonias, Bucco, and Tamatia. 



1635. — The Bristly Barbet 

 {Pogonias Mrsutus). The genus Pogonias is cha- 

 racterised by the beak being furnished with one or 

 two strong teeth on each side of the upper mandible ; 

 the bristles of the beak are very strong. The spe- 

 cies are found in India and Africa ; and, according 

 to Cuvier, subsist more exclusively on fruits than do 

 the other barbets. 



The bristly barbet is a native of Africa, and is re- 

 markable for a bunch of bristle-like feathers on the 

 chest. The throat, head, and neck are deep black, 

 passing on the upper surface of the body, the wings, 

 and tail into dark brown ; the general plumage 

 being spotted and marked with sulphur-yellow. 

 The under parts are greenish sulphur, thickly spotted 

 with dusky black. Length seven inches. 



1636. — Latham's Barbet 

 {Bucco Lathami). The Buff-faced Barbet. This 

 species is an example of the genus Bucco, in which 

 the bill is conical, slightly compressed, and a little 

 elevated in the middle. The species are found in 

 Asia and Africa. The buff-faced or Latham's bar- 

 bet is of a dark olive-green, paler beneath, with the 

 forehead and sides of the head round the eyes of a 

 full buff-colour. Length six inches. 



1637. — The Great-billed Puff Bird 

 {Tamatia macrorhynchos) . In the genus Tamatia 

 (Capito, Temminck) the beak is more elongated 

 than in the preceding genera, and more compressed, 

 with the upper mandible curved downwards at its 

 tip. The large head, the short tail, and great beak 

 of these puff-birds give them, says Cuvier, an air 

 of stupidity. In their habits they are melancholy 

 and secluded. All the recorded species are Ame- 

 rican, and are said to live exclusively on insects. 

 (See Cuvier, < Regne An.') 



The Great-billed Puff-bird is a native of Brazil, 

 and is considered by Svsainson to be identical with 

 the greater Pied Barbet of Latham. This bird in 

 its habits much reminds us of the flycatchers (Mus- 

 cicapidee). Mr. Swainson (< Zoological Illustra- 

 tions') gives the following interesting account of 

 the manners and disposition of these birds, which 

 he had an opportunity of studying in their native 



regions: "There is something very grotesque in 

 the appearance of all the puff-birds ; and their 

 habits, in a state of nalure, are no less singular. 

 They frequent open cultivated spots near habita- 

 tions, always perching on the withered branches of 

 a low tree; where they will sit nearly motionless 

 for hours, unless, indeed, they descry some luckless 

 insect passing near them, at which they immedi- 

 ately dart, returning again to the identical twig 

 they had just left, and which they will sometimes 

 frequent for months. At such times the dispropor- 

 tionate size of the head is rendered more conspicuous 

 by the bird raising its feathers so as to appear not 

 unlike a puff-ball: hence the general name they 

 have received from the English residents in Brazil, 

 of which vast country all the species, I believe, are 

 natives. When frightened, this form is suddenly 

 changed by the feathers lying quite flat. They are 

 very confiding, and will often take their station 

 within a few yards of the window. The two sexes 

 are generally near each other, and often on the same 

 tree." 



The length of this species is about eight inches. 

 Plumage black and white, except the belly and 

 vent, which are tinged with butt'. 



Leaving the Barbets, we come to the true Wood- 

 peckers, birds pre-eminently scansorial, and formed 

 for traversing the trunks and branches of trees. 

 The woodpeckers are widely distributed, being 

 found alike in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, 

 each region having its peculiar species ; they do 

 not, however, exist in Australia. If we look at. the 

 skeleton of the woodpecker (Fig. 1638) we shall at 

 a glance perceive the adaptation of the whole of 

 the osseous structure to the habits of the living 

 animal : the shape of the head and bill, the arched 

 form of the neck, and the sudden angle which the 

 cervical vertebree make with the dorsal, remind us 

 of a hammer with a long handle fixed to a sort of 

 hinge on which the machine works, and we no 

 longer wonder at. the force which the bird displays 

 as it shivers the bark with repeated blows. The 

 breast-bone, merrythought, and wing-bones are 

 small and feeble. The woodpecker is not a bird of 

 vast powers of flight ; but look at the bones of the 

 legs ; mark their strength, their length, and the 

 acute angles they make with each other as the 

 bird rests in its natural attitude. To say that the 

 muscles acting on these bones have great power , 

 and are voluminous, is what they themselves de- 

 clare ; the limb is indeed constructed for tenacity 

 of grasp and rapidity of action. In the woodpecker 

 the spiny tail is of great importance. We find the 

 pelvic portion of the skeleton developed, the caudal 

 vertebree large, the last bone particularly so ; and 

 the whole bends downwards in such a manner, that 

 the points of the tail-feathers are pressed against 

 the surface over which the bird is proceeding, The 

 structure of the toes and claws is worth especial at- 

 tention (Fig. 1639). The feet are zygodactyle ; and 

 the toes exceeding the tarsus in length, are strong, 

 robust, and armed with sharp curved claws ; the 

 outermost (that is, the longest) of the two hind-toes 

 is directed rather obliquely than completely back- 

 wards, and the two anterior toes diverge consider- 

 ably, so as to spread over an area as extensive as 

 possible in order that their grasp may be the more 

 effectual and secure, — a point of great importance 

 to the bird while ascending the trunk or limbs of 

 trees, but still more so while, exerting all its force, 

 it is hammering at the bark, or scooping out a hole 

 for its nest. 



From the feet we proceed to the beak (Fig, 

 1640). This in the more typical forms, as the Great 

 Black Woodpecker, is one of the most efficient in- 

 struments possible for splitting and chipping bark 

 or decayed wood. It is immensely strong and thick 

 at its base, whence it narrows to a hard compressed 

 tip, which is abruptly squared off, and sharp like 

 a minute chisel. Nor must the structure of the 

 tongue be omitted ; it is a flexible probe and feeler, 

 and an organ of prehension ; its length is very ex- 

 traordinary, unless, with Blumenbachfwe regard the 

 horny apex only as the true tongue ; and it is capable 

 of being protruded and retracted with singular 

 rapidity. It is lubricated with a viscid saliva, 

 and its tip (the true tongue of Blumenbach) is 

 horny, firm, and barbed on each side with a series 

 of spines directed backwards. This instrument it 

 launches forth with a rapid motion, inserting it into 

 crevices where the insects lodge, and into their 

 cells or mazy retreats which it has laid open with 

 its beak, and there catching them on the barbed 

 point, which is moreover covered with an adhe- 

 sive secretion, it draws them instantaneously into 

 the mouth. The mechanism by which the pro- 

 trusion and retraction of the tongue are effected is 

 very beautiful, and well worth attention. Figs. 1641, 

 1642, 1643, show the head of the woodpecker in dif- 

 ferent stages of dissection. Fig. 1643 is the most 

 complete, and is thus described by Sir Charles Bell : 

 " a is the barbed tongue : b two slender elastic liga- 

 mentous cartilages ofa very peculiar nature and use ; 



I at one extremity they are attached to the bone which 

 1 supports the upper mandible, from this we trace 

 them over the skull, down upon the sides of the 

 neck, and with a large sweep turning under the 

 lower mandible, and so continued into the tongue, 

 not terminating till they reach the horny point, ccc, 

 a long muscle which follows these ligamentous 

 cartilages, upon their concave side, arising from 

 the bone of the lower mandible, and so sweeping 

 round with the cartilages and over the skull to have 

 another fixed point at the upper mandible : these 

 protrude the tongue. Two muscles are seen to 

 arise from the sides of the larynx (windpipe), which 

 are the opponents of the last and retract the tongue. 

 Leaving the other parts of the anatomy, let us 

 direct our attention to the action of the muscle ccc, 

 which presents one of those curious instances ob- 

 served in comparative anatomy, of a mechanism 

 adapted to a particular purpose. The tongue is 

 not only thrust out far by this apparatus, but is shot 

 with great rapidity in correspondence with its 

 barbed point. This effect is produced by the two 

 extremities of the muscles being fixed points, and 

 the fibres of the muscle itself running on the con- 

 cave side of the cartilaginous bow so as to form a 

 smaller circle. We require no mathematical de- 

 monstration to prove that the tongue must be thrust 

 out to a greater distance than the measure of con- 

 traction of the muscle. 



" Let us tie up the line of the fishing-rod to its 

 slender top, and pull upon it at the butt ; the mo- 

 tion of the top will be very extensive when only an 

 inch of the line is drawn through the rings. This 

 is a pretty accurate representation of what takes 

 place by the contraction of this protruding muscle. 

 We have noticed that, the upper end of this arch is 

 fixed, the whole motion, therefore, must be given to 

 the loose extremity in the tongue ; and we cannot 

 but. observe that this peculiar arch and muscular 

 ring are adapted for the rapid protrusion of the 

 tongue ; whilst its retraction is produced by a com- 

 mon muscle, that is, a muscle running in a straight 

 course. Another curious part of this apparatus is, 

 that a very large gland, which pours out a glutinous 

 matter, is embraced and compressed by the action 

 of the circular muscle ; this viscid secretion, be- 

 dewing the tongue, furnishes additional means for 

 the bird to pick up insects, such as ants, without the 

 necessity of sticking each with its arrow. Nothing 

 can be more mechanical or more happily adapted 

 to its pnrpose, than the whole of this structure ; 

 indeed it is not inferior to the means employed for 

 giving rapidity to the membrana nictitans of the 

 eye of the bird." 



In Fig. 1642, a represents the tongue ; b one of 

 the protruding muscles ; and c its accompanying 

 elastic^ spring : which is in fact a continuation of the 

 os hyoides modified for a particular purpose. 



It has been said by some, that the woodpecker 

 transfixes insects upon its barbed tongue ; such, as 

 far as our observations go, is not the case ; they 

 adhere to it by means of the glutinous saliva, and 

 are prevented from becoming disengaged by means 

 of the barbs which act like those of the burr (calyx 

 of the burdock, arctium lappa). 



Buffon has condemned the whole group of wood- 

 peckers as degraded, miserable beings. According 

 to him the narrow circumference of a tree circum- 

 scribes their dull round of life, and on this Ihey are 

 constrained to drag out an insipid existence in boring 

 the bark and hard fibres, in order to extract their 

 prey ; and thus they lead a mean and gloomy life : 

 nor is their appetite ever softened by delicacy of 

 taste. When Buffon wrote this he must have been 

 thinking of the bond-slaves, or serfs of France under 

 the old regime; it is very inapplicable to the 

 active, restless, noisy, animated woodpeckers, ever 

 on the alert, flitting from tree to tree, and busy on 

 their appointed labours. The Picidse or Wood- 

 peckers are sub-divided into numerous genera or 

 sub-genera, as indeed, in the present day, are most 

 groups of birds ; so much so, indeed, that the study 

 of ornithology (we may say zoology) is merging into 

 a study of barbarous nomenclature : we shall soon 

 have a distinct genus for every species; and this is 

 called science. 



1644. — The Great Black Woodpecker 



(Picvs rnartius). Dryocopus martius, Boie ; Le Pic 

 noir, Buffon. This fine bird is the largest of its 

 European congeners, being in length about seven- 

 teen inches. In England it is a bird of very rare 

 occurrence, barely claiming a place in the catalogue 

 of our British Fauna. Its native regions are the 

 northern and eastern parts of Europe, as far as 

 Siberia. In the forests Of Russia and some parts of 

 Germany it is common. It breeds, like the rest of 

 its race, in the deepholes of trees, which are hewed 

 out by the power of its bill, sometimes even in the 

 solid undecayed wood. The eggs are three or four in 

 number, and white. The whole of the plumage is 

 glossy black, with the exception of the crown, which 

 in the male is rich vermilion. The female is duller, 



