PICUS. WOODPECKER. 75 



procure which they drive off chips of the bark, or dig into the 

 wood. The structure of all birds is of course admirably adapt- 

 ed to their mode of life, and of none more so than of any other ; 

 but sometimes we are able to trace the connection between a 

 curious mechanism and its results, as in this case, where the 

 form and firmness of the bill are obviously so well fitted for 

 the purpose of digging, while the strong, curved, extremely 

 fine-pointed claws, enable the bird to cling with ease to the 

 bark, and its stift' tail, by being pressed against its surface, 

 steadily supports it while thus engaged. If a person apply the 

 lower surface of the tail of a woodpecker to his hand, he will 

 find that it requires a vast force to make it slip backwards, 

 such a force as can never be overcome by the weight of the 

 bird. Lastly, the curious but simple apparatus by which the 

 tongue is extended, so that it can be thrust into a hole or fis- 

 sure far beyond the point of the bill, while its tip is barbed 

 with small filaments, which like the teeth of a rake, serve to 

 pull up the larva or insect, is not less beautiful than easily 

 intelligible. 



These birds are generally distributed, but more abundant in 

 the warmer regions, although some live on the borders of the 

 frigid zone. Their residence is in the forests and woods. Be- 

 sides insects and larvae, they eat seeds of various kinds, berries, 

 grapes, and other soft fruits, but their stomach is not formed for 

 grinding, and seeds which they may have swallowed entire are 

 passed undigested. Their flight is powerful. When they pro- 

 ceed to a distance they fly in an undulating manner ; but other- 

 wise directly, or in a single curve, descending from the higher 

 branches of a tree to the lower part of a trunk, which they 

 ascend as if by starts, sometimes in a spiral manner, tapping 

 with their bill, as they proceed, in order to discover the parts 

 that are unsound, on finding which they dig assiduously into 

 them, driving off the bark and chips of rotten wood with great 

 energy, until they have succeeded in obtaining the insects and 

 larvae which have sheltered in them. They nestle in a hole dug 

 by themselves in a decayed tree, and deposit the eggs in its 

 bottom, without generally interposing anything between them 

 and the wood. The eggs are not numerous, and are generally 



