Fam. XVII. DENDROCOLAPTIDÆ, or WOOD-HEWERS.
The _Dendrocolaptidæ_ are an important family in American Ornithology,
numbering some 220 species, and distributed in greater or less abundance
over every part of the Neotropical Region from Mexico to Patagonia.
Within Argentine limits 46 species occur.
While green is the characteristic colour of the _Tyrannidæ_, brown is
the favoured hue of the _Dendrocolaptidæ_, both the forest-loving and
campos-frequenting members of the group being nearly without exception
arrayed in various shades of that sombre colour, to which a ferruginous
tail is a very frequent appendage.
The _Dendrocolaptidæ_ fall into four subfamilies, all of which have
representatives in Argentina. These are (1) the _Furnariinæ_, or
Oven-birds, which are terrestrial in habits and have their feet adapted
for this mode of life; (2) the _Sclerurinæ_, or Leaf-scrapers, known by
their spiny tail, which keep to the ground inside the forests; (3) the
_Synallaxinæ_, or Sharp-tails, mostly bush-frequenting birds; and (4)
the _Dendrocolaptinæ_, or Wood-hewers, which have the habits of our
Creepers (_Certhia_), and use their tail as a climbing-organ. All the
members of this great family feed exclusively on insects.