PICARI.E : WOODPECKERS, ETC. 



173 



FIG. 204. 



Bed-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes ery- 

 throcephalus, Swainson. 



or wood ; and they have a 

 long, acute tongue, armed 

 towards the tip with barbs, 

 and capable of great exten- 

 tion. They have stout feet, 

 long wings, ten primaries, 

 and twelve tail feathers, the 

 exterior being small and 

 concealed. Woodpeckers 

 feed upon the larvse of in- 

 sects, which they secure by 

 introducing their extensible 

 tono-ue under the bark of 



O 



trees, or into crevices, or 

 into holes which they them- 

 selves have made, and then transfixing the larvas with 



the barbed point, or 

 the larvas adhere to 

 the viscid glue with 

 which the tongue is 

 covered. 



There are about 

 thirty species in North 

 America, varying from 

 six to twenty or more 

 inches in length. 

 Some of our most in- 

 teresting species are 

 the Ivory-billed Wood- 

 pecker, and the Red- 

 headed Woodpecker 

 (Fig. 204), and the 

 Golden-winged Wood- 



Golden-winged Woodpecker, Colaptes . 



aaralus, Swaiusou. pecker (tig. 205). 



FIG. 205. 



