Order III. SCANSORES. 
Family III. Picid^. 
The sixth Subfamily, 
COLAPTINiE, or Ground Woodpeckers, 
have the Bill broad at the base, and the sides compressed to the end, with the culmen much curved to 
the tip, which is acute ; the sides of the upper mandible sloping, and the lateral ridge scarcely visible or 
entirely wanting. 
CoLAPTES Swains.^ 
Bill long, rather slender, broad at the base, and narrowed towards the end, with the culmen elevated 
at the base, and curved to the tip, which is rather acute ; the lateral margins slightly curved, and the 
gonys angulated, and curved upwards to the end of the lower mandible ; the nostrils basal, lateral, and 
covered by the projecting plumes. Wings long, with the first quill short, and the fourth and fifth the 
longest. Tail rather long, graduated, and the ends of the feathers narrowed and rigid. Tarsi short, 
robust, and covered with broad scales. Toes unequal ; the outer anterior toe longer than the outer 
posterior one : the claws moderate, compressed, and acute. 
These birds are found in North and South America, the Islands of the West Indies, and South Africa. Tliey are 
observed on the ground, examining the manure of cattle for the insects that live within, or turning over the hillocks 
formed by ants, which insects form their chief and favourite food. They occasionally frequent trees, for those ants that 
build their nests on them ; and they penetrate the dead and decayed branches, for the woodlice and larva3 of insects that 
inhabit such places. Fruits do not escape the attacks of these birds when ripe, as well as seeds and grains. Their 
flight is strong and prolonged, propelling themselves by nimierous beats of the wings, with short intervals of sailing, 
during which they generally keep in a straight Hue. The nature of their chief food causes them to migrate from place 
to place as it becomes scarce in the locaUty which they have occupied. The eggs, which are usually six in nmnber, are 
deposited in holes of trees, on the chips and dust of the wood. The young soon leave the nest, and are enticed by the 
parents to the higher branches, and there fed by them. 
1. C. auratus (Linn.) Swains. PI. enl. 6Q3., WUs. Amer. Orn. 
pi. 3. f. 1., Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 37. 
2. C. brasiliensis Swains. 
3. C, rubricatus (Licht.) Pr. Bonap. — Colaptes mexicanus 
Swains.; C. collaris Vigors, Beechey's Voy. Zool. pi. 19-, Audub. 
B. of Amer. pi. 41 6. f. 5. 
4. C. pitiguus (Moh) — Picus chilensis Less. Voy. de la Coqu. 
t. 32. ; P. cuculinus Licht. 
5. C. FernandinoB Vigors, Zool. Journ. iii. p. 445., Voy. I'lle de 
Cuba, Ois. t. 24. 
6. C. superciliosus Vigors, Zool. Journ. iii. p. 445., Voy. I'lle de 
Cuba, Ois. t. 23. (var. alba). 
7. C. mexicanoides Lafr. Rev. Zool. 184i. p. 42. 
8. C. elegans Fr. Proc. Z. S. 1840. p. 60. — Picus Rivoli Boiss. 
9. C. Ayresii Audub. B. of Amer. 2. edit. pi. 494. 
10. C. rupicola D'Orb. Voy. dans I'Amer. Mer. Ois. t. C2. f. 1. 
11. C. olivaceus (Lath.) Steph. Le Vail). Ois. d'Afr. t. 254. — 
Picus arator Ciiv. ; Geocolaptes terrestris Burch. ; Type of Geoco- 
laptes Burch. (1831). 
* Established by Mr. Swainson in 182? (Zool. Journ. iii. p. 353.). It embraces Geocolaptes of Dr. Burchell. 
