XXIX 
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 
(Picide) 3 
You may generally know a woodpecker the 
moment you see him ona tree. He will— if 
he follows woodpecker fashions — be clinging to 
the trunk, or a big branch, propped up by his 
stiff tail, and not perched crosswise like most 
other birds. 
There are a good many of this family in the 
world. We have twenty-four species in North 
America. They differ from other birds in two 
or three ways. First their toes are always in 
pairs, two turned forward and two turned back- 
ward, except in one genus, which has but three 
toes. So they can hold on better than anybody 
else. 
Then again the tails of woodpeckers are not 
like most birds’ tails. They are strong and stiff, 
so that they can be used as props to hold the 
bird in the queer position he likes so well. 
1 See Appendix, 22. 
