Zoological Illustrations Volume I Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PICUS rubiginosus.

_Brown Woodp.e.c.k.e.r._

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Rostrum polyedrum, r.e.c.t.u.m, in apicem compressum, cuneatum, attenuatum.

Nares basales, ovales, patulae, plumis angustis rec.u.mbentibus tectae.

Lingua longissima, jaculatoria, apice sagittato. Cauda rectricibus validis, rigidis, ac.u.minatis,_ 10, _intermediis duabus longioribus.

Pedes scansorii._

Typus Genericus _Picus viridis_.

Bill many-sided, straight, the tip resembling a compressed pointed wedge. Nostrils basal, oval, open, covered externally with narrow rec.u.mbent feathers. Tongue very long, retractile, the tip barbed.

Tail-feathers ten, strong, rigid, ac.u.minated; the two middle ones longest. Feet climbing.

Generic Type _Picus viridis_.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_P. supra rubiginosus: vertice nigrescente; occipite rubro, subtus fulvo, fusco-fasciato._

Above tawny rufous. Crown blackish; hind head crimson, beneath fulvous, with brown transverse bands.

The Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs form a most natural family of birds, and are dispersed in every part of the known world, excepting the Polar regions. Eight species inhabit Europe, five of which are found in our own country. The largest however of these, the Great Black Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, is very rare; and even the others are less frequently seen than formerly, from the gradual diminution of our few remaining forests.

The present appears an undescribed species, and was sent from the Spanish Main to E. Falkner, Esq. of Fairfield. I have since seen the male, which, like many others of this genus, is distinguished by a patch of red below the eye.

Total length, eight inches and a half; bill one inch long, blackish; front and crown cinereous black; the hind head and nape crimson; a dusky whitish line (beginning at the nostrils) includes the eye and ear-feathers; below this on each side blackish, with longitudinal whitish dots, which in the male is mixed near the bill with crimson; chin blackish, speckled with white. The general plumage above is uniform tawny rufous brown, becoming more olive on the rump. Under parts olivaceous yellow, crossed with numerous close bands of blackish brown. Quills with the inner web black, the margin pale yellow; shafts and outer web tawny; tail the same, the shafts and outer half black, excepting the last pair, which have yellowish shafts and dusky tips. Wings inside, pale orange. Legs and claws dusky green.

Two or three other individuals have since fallen under my observation: the male I saw at Mr. Leadbeater's, Animal Preserver, in Brewer-street, of whose liberality and integrity in every way, I can bear the most unqualified and cheerful testimony.

Pl. 15

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LICINIA Melite.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Antennae graciles; clava elongata, fusiformi, compressa. Palpi brevissimi, vix ultra caput producti, ad linguam compressi, squamis linearibus tecti, margine ciliati, articulo ultimo sub-nudo, secundo subaequali. Abdomen elongatum, gracile, in maribus 6-articulatum, articulo ultimo integro; valvis plerumque elongatis, attenuatis, apice acutis. Alae anticae (in maribus) angustae, obtuse-attenuatae, (in foeminis) latiores, oblique rotundatae. Alae posticae (in maribus) dilatatae, longitudine anticis pene aequales; margine antico opaco, in foeminis breviores, suborbiculares._

Typus Genericus _L. Melite_. n.o.bis.

Antennae slender, the club elongated, fusiform, and compressed. Palpi very short, hardly projecting beyond the head, compressed on the tongue, covered with scales and margined externally with long hairs, the last joint nearly naked and almost as long as the second joint.

Body elongated, slender, in the male with 6 joints, the last entire.

Valves generally elongated, attenuated, their tips acutely pointed.

Anterior wings (in the male) narrow, obtusely attenuated; in the female broader, and obliquely rounded. Posterior (in the male) dilated, nearly as long as the anterior wings, the fore margin opaque; in the female shorter, and nearly orbicular.

Generic Type _L. Melite_.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_L. (Mas.) alis flavis; anteriore supra nigra, fascia obliqua flava, et linea, basali transversa, margine posteriore flavo. (Foem.) Alis supra albis; anteriore apice stigmateque marginali obliquo nigris; posteriore supra nigro marginata, subtus (in utroque s.e.xu) flavescente, lineis duabus transversis fuscis._

Male. Wings yellow, anterior above black, with an oblique yellow band and transverse basal line; posterior margin yellow. Fem. Wings above white; anterior, with the tips and marginal oblique stigma black.

Posterior, above margined with black; beneath (in both s.e.xes) yellow, with two transverse brown lines.

Papilio Melite. _Fab. Ent. Syst._ 160, 494. _Cramer, tab._ 153. C. D.

The remarkable size of the under wings in the male insects of this genus will distinguish them even to a casual observer as forming a natural group.

They are all natives of South America, where I discovered nine species. The females differ most strikingly, and have hitherto been mistaken by authors not only for distinct species, but as belonging to different genera.

Their natural situation will be among the _Pieridae_, with whose general habit they accord.

The female of this species resembles _Pap. Licinia_ of Cramer, except in having a short black stigma in the middle of the anterior border of the fore wings, pointing obliquely to the exterior margin. Cramer's insect, however, is the female of another undescribed species in my cabinet.

The under side of the posterior wings in both s.e.xes is the same.

Pl. 16

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ISMENE Oedipodea.

GENERIC CHARACTER.