98 HOW HE IS MADE 
who eat them have a brush on the tip of the 
tongue, which brushes an egg out of its hiding- 
place very easily. 
The nuthatch picks his small grubs out of 
crevices in bark with the four-tined fork at the 
end of his tongue. 
A hummingbird’s tongue can be used as a 
tube, to draw up the honey of flowers, 
or perhaps as a pair of tweezers, to pick 
out the tiny spiders that live there. 
A woodpecker has barbs on_ his 
tongue, to spear insects hidden under 
the bark, as shown by Mr. Lucas (Fig. 
7). It is said to be sticky also, to hold 
small ones, like ants. 
The tongues of birds are of many 
shapes, but each one is fitted to its 
owner’s way of getting a living. 
Fic. 7. Because the tongue is often horny, 
Chie and they eat strange things, it is some- 
peDowny ities thought that birds have little sense 
ay of taste. But we cannot be sure of this, 
and we know they all have notions 
about their food. 
Dr. Ward tells a story of some geese, which 
shows that they do not lack that sense. While 
sailing upon a river he noticed on the bank 
some geese, feeding on the rinds of watermelon, 


