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SCANDRICES. PICINJE. 
flesliy, with a horny barbed tip and extensile by means 
of the elongated hyoid bones ; oesophagus without crop ; 
proventriculus extremely large; stomach moderately mus- 
cular, with a dense longitudinally rugous epithelium ; in- 
testine of moderate length, rather wide ; no coeca. Tarsi 
short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate ; toes compressed, 
moderate, excepting the first, which is short, sometimes 
rudimentary or wanting, the fourth or outer long and di- 
rected backwards ; claws strong, much arched, compress- 
ed, laterally grooved, very acute. 
Of this order we have in Britain only a few represen- 
tatives of a single family, the Picinse. They cling to the 
bark of trees by means of their strong curved claws, as- 
cend vertically or obliquely, tap the loose bark of decayed 
trees, or detach it in fragments, or break up the rotten 
wood, to obtain the larvae and insects which shelter there. 
They nestle in holes which they bore in decayed trees. 
FAMILY XXVII. PICIN^. PICINE BIKDS, 
OB WOODPECKEBS. 
Bill strong, straight, tapering, angular, wedge-shaped, 
or compressed and abrupt at the end. Tongue long, 
slender, round, with a flattened narrow tip furnished with 
lateral reversed prickles, and capable of being thrust out 
to a great extent, by means of the elongated hyoid bones, 
which curve round the skull as far as the forehead, and 
sometimes even surround the right eye ; oesophagus of 
moderate width, or rather narrow ; proventriculus very 
wide ; stomach moderate, roundish, with moderately 
strong muscles, and dense, rugous epithelium ; intestine 
of moderate length, rather wide ; no coeca ; cloaca enor- 
mously large. Tarsi short ; toes long, the outer elongated 
and directed outwards and backwards, the first small. 
