162 



BRANCH VERTEBEATA. 



FIG. 273. 



\ 



Pi cm' des fiir su' tits. Banded 

 Three-toed Woodpecker. (J.) 



. The Woodpeckers are the typical Zygodactyles (zig o- 

 ciak'tllz) [yoke-toed], generally having toes in pairs, one 



pair before and one pair behind. 

 Their tongue can be thrust far 

 out, and a hole once made to the 

 lurking-place of an insect, the tip, 

 barbed on the upper side and 

 viscid with saliva, quickly trans- 

 fers the victim to the gullet of 

 its captor. The tail of most ot 

 the species aids in supporting the 

 body. The lustrous, white eggs 

 are laid on chips at the bottom 

 of excavations made in the trees 

 by the parents. 

 The Three-toed Woodpecker, of which there are three 

 species, is rarely found south of the Canadas or northern 

 Maine. 



The Golden-winged Woodpecker is the most extensively 

 distributed through North 

 America, and the most beau- 

 tifully colored of its group. 

 The male is distinguished 

 from the female by the black 

 patches on its cheeks, look- 

 ing like side-whiskers. 



The Ivory-billed Wood- 

 pecker is the largest north 

 of Central America. With 

 its wedge-shaped bill, which 

 is so hard as to strike fire 

 from a flint, as does steel, it can bore a hole three feet 

 deep for its nest in the trunk of a living tree. As a 



FIG. 274. 



Co lap' tes au ra' tus. 

 Golden-winged Woodpecker, 



