39^ Hijlory of A N I M A L S. 
nut colour : part of thefe long feathers are very beautifully variegated with white and 
with fcarlet fpots, and part of them with yellow j the inner ones become paler than 
the outer* and fome of the moft hidden ones are greyifh. 
The tail is moderately long, and has this Angularity, that in the male it confifts of 
only ten, and in the female of twelve feathers; they are nearly of the fame length, 
and are all of a deep moufe colour tow&rd the bafe, but yellow at their extremities * 
the yellow is brighter in the male than in the female, but in both it is very elegant” 
and gives great beauty to the bird : and toward the bafe of the tail there are a num¬ 
ber of other confiderable long feathers, which form, as it were, another tail; thefe 
are of an elegant chefnut colour, and are not rigid and ft iff like the redtices, or long 
feathers of the real tail, but flexible, and foft as thofe which cover the body. 
The legs are {lender, moderately long, and of a deep bluifh-black colour: the toes 
are long, {lender, and fcaly, and the claws are long, {harp, and very crooked, and 
are of a deep black: the claw of the hinder toe is longer and (harper than any of the 
others. 
This is a native of Bohemia, and is faid, by fome authors, to be peculiar to that 
kingdom, but this is erroneous. It is frequent in many parts of Germany, and in 
Italy, and is feen, though not fo abundantly, in the South of France. Moft of the 
authors who have written on birds have named it. Aldrovand, and after him many 
others, call it Garrulus Bohemicus; and many, from it’s peculiar fondnefs for grapes, 
Ampelis. It feeds on fruits of all kinds, but principally on the foft ones: it is natu¬ 
rally very noify, but it’s wild notes are hoarfe and difagreeable ; when kept tame, it is 
eafily learnt to imitate the human voice. 
P I c u s. 
T H E beak of the Picus is ftraight, of a polyhedral of many-fided figure, and 
has it’s point formed in manner of a wedge : the tongue is rounded, and very 
long ; it refembles in form a worm, or fome other fuch infedt: the toes, in all but onp 
fpecies, ftand two before, and two behind, as in the parrot. 
Picus niger vertice coccineo . 3 CI )t bl&Cfc 
'The black Picus , with a fcarlet head. QD 'PCCli Zt* 
This is a very Angular bird; it’s weight is about ten ounces; it’s body, in Aze, is 
fomewhat larger than that of a fieldfare: the head is moderately large, and very 
much deprefled or flatted on the crown; the eyes are large and piercing j the 
beak is very ftrong, about two fingers breadth long, and of a deep blackilh-blue co¬ 
lour 5 it is of a figure approaching to triangular, and is covered at the bafe by a mem¬ 
brane of a pale colour: the noftrils are large and round $ they ftand very forward, and 
are furrounded with reflex hairs. 
> 
The head is black at the fides, and toward the lower part, but of a beautiful red at 
the top ; properly and diftindtly fpeaking, there is a fpot of this fine coral red extend¬ 
ing from the bafe of the beak, longitudinally, to the very back part of the head : the 
neck, fhoulders, back, and wings, in (hort, the whole bird, befides, is of a deep and 
glofly black. 
The wings are not very long; the long feathers in them are nineteen in each : of 
thefe the firft is very {hort and inconfiderable, in proportion to the others j thefe, how¬ 
ever, are of a yet deeper black than any of the others: the tail confifts of ten fea¬ 
thers, of which the exterior two are very ftiort, and the others become gradually 
longer to the very middle ones ; thefe are between fix and feven fingers breadth long, 
which 
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