The Dojhnkan Wooupeceek. lilKDS. The Wuyneck. 383 
and iiifiking a rattling noise upon the dead limbs so loud, 
as to be heard at a distance of half a mile. It sometimes 
feeds with avidity upon the Indian corn. According to 
Wilson, its voice is hoarser than that of the other wood- 
peckers ; he says that its usual note is “chow,” and 
adds that it reminded Iiim of the barking of a little 
lapdog. At the breeding season it digs a hole usually 
in the lower surface of the oblique decaying limb of 
a tree, in which the female deposits five pure white 
eggs. Tire young when nearly full-grown, but not yet 
able to fly, creep out of the nest and climb to the higher 
branches, where they are fed for some days by their 
parents, but often pay the penalty of their impatience 
to see the world by being snapped up by luuvks. 
THE DOMINICAN WOODPECKER {Leuconerpes domi- 
,nicanus), an inhabitant of South America, has its 
plumage generally white ; the back of the neck, a 
streak running backward from each eye, the anterior 
half of the back and the wings black ; the tail is also 
black, with brown bands; the back of the head and the 
belly are yellow. Its total length is about twelve inches. 
This bird is said by Azara to frequent trees and walls, 
but rarely to run upon them like the preceding wood- 
peckers. It perches frequently in the manner of ordi- 
nary birds, and feeds upon w'asps, and other insects, 
and upon fruits. 
THE GOLDEN. WINGED WOODPECKER {Colaptes 
auratus) is an example of a peculiar group, in which 
the bill is almost destitute of ridges. Members of this 
group are found in both hemispheres ; the present 
species is a native of North America, in nearly all ])arts 
of which it is to be found. Its colour above is a dark 
brown, with transverse black streaks ; the upper part 
of the head is gray, the cheeks are cinnamon-brown, 
and on the back of the head is a bright red crescent- 
shaped spot; the throat and chin are fawn colour, 
bounded on each side by a black streak, running from 
the base of the bill ; on the breast there is a broad, 
deep black crescent, and the belly is yellowish-white, 
with round black spots. The lower surface of the wings 
and tail, and the shafts of all the quills are of a beauti- 
ful golden-yellow colour, whence the name of the species; 
the rump and tail-coverts are white, and the tail black. 
The length of this bird is about twelve inches. 
The food of the Golden- winged Woodpecker seems 
to consist principally of ants and their larvae, in pursuit 
of which he visits the broken and decayed stumps of 
trees and even the ground. But, although thus par- 
tially terrestrial in its habits, this bird frequents trees 
like the other members of its family, and climbs over 
their trunks and branches with great ease. It also 
feeds freely upon fruits, and is very partial to Indian 
corn, especially in the state known to the American 
ftirmers as roasting ears. Its nest is made as usual in 
a hole in the trunk or branch of a tree, and this is 
sometimes dug by the birds themselves out of the solid 
wood. T’he eggs are white, and six in number. 
THE MINUTE PICULET {Picumnus minutus ). — 
Under the name of Piculets we may distinguish a 
small group of very diminutive species, which inhabit 
the tropical regions of both hemispheres ; they ditler 
from the true woodpeckers principally in the structure 
of the tail, which is not used in supporting the bird. 
and has the tips of its feathers rounded. The pre- 
sent, w'ith several nearly allied species, inhabits tho 
forests of tropical America, where it appears to be 
pretty widely dispersed. It measures only three inches 
and a quarter in length, and is of a brown colour above, 
with numerous white spots, and with the forehead and 
part of the crown of the head bright red ; the low'cr 
surface is yellowish-brown, streaked with a darker tint. 
In its general habits this little bird resembles its 
larger relatives already described, creeping about in 
search of insects upon the trunks and branches of trees, 
and breeding in holes. 
TEMMINCK’S PICULET {Sasia abnor mis). —In this, 
and one or two other species occurring in India, the 
feet are furnished wdth only three toes, two in front 
and one behind, as in Picoides and Chrysonotus. 
The present species, which is a native of Malacca 
and the neighbouring islands, is probably the most 
diminutive member of its family, measuring cnly three 
inches in length ; three quarters of an inch less than 
the diminutive golden- crested wren, the smallest of 
British birds. It is of a green colour above, wdth the 
forehead yellow, and the cheeks reddish-browm ; the 
eyes are surrounded by a naked skin of a bright rose 
colour; the rump is yellowdsh-orange, the tail black, 
and the lower surface light cinnamon colour, with a 
yellowish gloss on the abdomen. 
THE WRYNECK ( Yunx torquilla)—V\a.iQ 17, fig. 59. 
— This bird, which is a summer visitor to Bngland, is 
widely distributed over the northern parts of the 
eastern hemisphere, extending its range at least as 
far eastw'ard as India. In this- country it arrives in 
April, and leaves ns again about the end of August ; 
and as these are also pretty nearly the times of arrival 
and departure of the cuckoo, this bird is known in 
some places under the name of the cuckoo’s mate. Its 
name of Wryneck has been given to it on account 
of its habit of twisting its head into various positions, 
especially while feeding. Although the colouring of 
this bird cannot boast of any brilliancy, its ground 
colour being yellowish-gray above and wdiite beneath, 
variously spotted, mottled and banded with brown and 
black, yet, from the elegance of its form, and tho 
beauty of its markings, it cannot but be regarded as a 
handsome bird. 
The food of the Wryneck consists principally of ants 
and their larvse and pupae, in search of which it visits 
the ground in the vicinity of the nests of those insects; 
it also captures insects of various kinds wliilst running 
upon the trunks and branches of trees in the manner 
of the true Woodpeckers. In all cases the insects are 
captured by means of the extensible, worm-like tongue, 
which is endued wdth a viscid secretion to which the 
insects adhere ; this organ is darted out and retracted 
with such extraordinary rapidity that the pale-coloured 
larva or pupa of an ant adhering to it, being more 
conspicuous than the tongue itself, seems almost as if 
moving towards the mouth by attraction. The Wry- 
neck breeds in the holes of trees, laying its eggs upon 
the rotten wood at tlie bottom of the cavity. The eggs 
are sometimes nine or ten in number, and are of a pure 
white colour. 
THE CAYENNE BARRET {Capita cayanensis ), — Mr. 
