XXII 
HIS BEAK AND TONGUE 
How does a bird get along without a hand ? 
He has to prepare food; to keep his feathers in 
order; to build the nest; to 
feed and take care of the young; 
and sometimes to fight other : = 
birds. How ean all this be 
done without a hand ? thee Je 
Bill of Oriole. 
The beak is the only thing 
most birds have in place of a hand, and it is 
wonderful to see how many things they can do 
with it. 
Orioles use it as a needle, in making the nest. 
With it they weave strips of soft bark or strings, 
back and forth, in and out, to make the firm 
pocket they hang on the 
elm-tree (see Fig. 1). 
A woodpecker’s beak is 
a chisel or pick, to cut a 
Fic. 2. deep hole in a tree trunk 
Bilb-at Wandpecker for a nest (Fig. 2). With 

