COLAPTINiE. 
Meiglyptes Swains* 
Bill rather short, strong, broad, and elevated at the base, with the cuhnen curved, and sides compressed 
towards the tip, which is acute ; the lateral margins slightly curved ; the gonys long, angulated, and 
ascending ; the nostrils basal, lateral, exposed, small, and oval. Wings long ; with the first quill short, 
and the fourth and fifth nearly equal and longest. Tail moderate, graduated, and the ends of the 
feathers acute. Tarsi short, strong, and covered in front with broad scales. Toes unequal ; mth the 
two outer toes equal and longest, and the inner posterior toe more or less short : the claws moderate, 
compressed, and acute. 
It is in India and its archiiielago that the birds which form this division are found. Dr. Packman kindly informs 
me that they inhabit singly the thick woods and jungles, and are often heard tapping the solid trunks of trees, the 
sound of which is so loud that it reechoes through the forest for some distance. The tapping causes a jarring sensation 
to the tree, which puts the colony of tree ants in a commotion, and they instantly quit their hiding-places to escape the 
danger that awaits them, carrying in their mouths their eggs and larvae ; and the bird, who is on the watch outside, 
devours them as they approach within reach of his tongue. They also attack the hillocks formed on the ground, for 
the ants that inhabit them. 
1. M. tristis (Horsf.) — Picus poicilophus Tenim. PI. col. 1 97- 
f. 1. 
2. M. brunneus Eyton, Proc. Z. S. 1839. P- lOC. — Picus tukki 
Less.; P. luridus Nitzsch. 
* Established by Mr. Swaiuson in 1837 (Classification of Birds, ii. p. 309.)' 
3. M. brachyurus (vieill.) — Picus badius Raffi. ; P. rufus Gray, 
111. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 20. f. 2. 
August, 1840". 
K\. I 
