iS6 BOMBAY DUCKS 



The hen bird differs but slightly from the male. She 

 has the crimson chest, but the feathers of her head, 

 instead of being tipped with crimson, are spotted with 

 white. That so trivial a difference should be due to 

 sexual selection I find it difficult to believe. The 

 species nests in holes in trees ; hence there is no reason 

 why, so far as protection is concerned, the hen should 

 not exactly resemble the cock in outward appearance. 

 This is by no means the only point in the colouring 

 of the woodpecker which needs elucidation. 



Although the tribe displays a great variety of colour, 

 no tint of blue is, I believe, ever seen in the plumage. 

 Again, the young birds of some species are more gaily 

 coloured than the adults — a most unusual phenomenon. 



The woodpecker, being a highly specialized bird, is a 

 perfect example of adaptation to environment. Its 

 peculiar form is the expression of its unusual habits. 

 Its beak is powerful, and is used as a pickaxe. With 

 it the bird can excavate a nest in decaying wood, or 

 dig out the insects which lurk in rotten timber. The 

 bird also, by tapping its beak, frightens out of their 

 lair insects which are hiding in the bark ; and woe 

 betide them when once they show themselves ! 



The woodpecker is provided with a chameleon-like 

 tongue, which is armed with backwardly-directed bristles 

 and a plentiful secretion of saliva of the " stick-fast " 

 variety. The tongue is shot out at the insect with 

 lightning speed, and in less than the twinkling of an 

 eye the luckless creature is being hustled down the 

 woodpecker's gullet. 



One enthusiast thus describes the bird's tongue : 



