AVES. 



419 



The Picarice, or woodpecker-like birds, have two toes in 

 front and two directed backward in adaptation to their climb- 

 ing habit. The beak is usually strong, but varied in shape. 

 The woodpeckers, cuckoos, the toucans or hornbills and the 

 kingfishers may be included here. Related to this order are 



FIG. 220. 



FIG. 220. Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon, L.)- About one-fourth natural size. 

 By J. W. Folsom. 



the parrots. Some species of cuckoo lay their eggs in the 

 nests of other birds, where they are hatched and nourished by 

 the host, and are said to cast the proper owners from the nest 

 in return for the care they receive. The woodpeckers drill 

 holes in the bark and in the wood of decaying trees in search 

 of the insects frequenting such places. Their nests are exca- 

 vated by them in a similar way. The same pair may use the 

 same nest many years in succession unless forestalled by indi- 

 viduals of some more war-like species which refuse to yield it. 

 The tapping sounds made by the woodpecker serve often rather 



