308 CITIZEN BIRD 



prop them up when they climb the trunks of trees, or 

 when they stop to bore for their food. They also have 

 stiff, pointed tail-feathers that the}^ press against the 

 upright trunks of trees to keep themselves in place, the 

 same as Swifts do inside chimneys, or Brown Creepers 

 scrambling about trees. So they make brackets of them- 

 selves, as Rap says. Their bills are strong and straight, 

 like chisels, so that tliey may cut and gouge hard Avood 

 without breaking them. Besides all this, they have 

 curious long fleshy tongues, with horny barbed tips, 

 which they can thrust far out of their mouths, to spear 

 their insect food from holes and crannies." 



" Can any of them sing ? " asked Nat. 



" They belong to an entirely songiess group, but have 

 several ways of calling and signalling to each other. 

 One of these is to beat rapidly on a tree with the beak, 

 which makes a rolling noise, each different species doing 

 his drumming in his own way. Besides this, they all 

 have jolly laughing notes, in spite of the fact that most 

 of them are rather shy birds. Hence they are often 

 called the Laughing Family ! " 



" Are there many kinds of Woodpeckers in North 

 America ? " 



'' More than twenty, but you are likely to notice only 

 a few of them. I am sure, however, that you will be 

 good friends with four kinds before snowfall — the 

 Downy Woodpecker that you saw this morning ; the 

 beautiful golden-winged Flicker ; the gay Red-headed 

 Woodpecker, so glossy blue-black and white ; and the 

 mischievous spotted Sapsucker who visits us in autumn. 

 You will find them very different in looks and habits, 

 in spite of their being cousins." 



