FAMILY CARES— BUILDING THE HOME. 127 



pecker we have another example of the adapta- 

 tion and specialisation of parts. We have seen 

 already how peculiarly the tongue has changed, 

 we turn now to the tail-feathers. These differ 

 from those of all other birds in their peculiar 

 stiffness. They have been modified to form long 

 sharp-pointed supporting rods, the tips of which 

 the bird forces against the trunk of the tree to 

 serve as a lever when driving his powerful pick- 

 axe into the bark, or as an additional support in 

 making vertical ascents. They may be regarded 

 in short as climbing-spurs. 



The little nut-hatches of our woodlands are 

 also breeders in holes in trees. If the aperture 

 is too large they plaster it up with mud till it 

 is reduced to the required size : generally this 

 is so small that the birds have to wriggle them- 

 selves in and out. 



The hornbills of Africa, India, and the Malay 

 Archipelago, are amongst the most remarkable of 

 birds in their nesting habits. Having selected a 

 hollow tree, the female takes up her station 

 therein and remains incarcerated for many 

 weeks. The following account of the nesting 

 habits of the Bornean rhinoceros hornbill has 

 been recently given by Mr Hose. " The nest," 

 he says, *'is always built in the hollow of a large 

 tree — the hollow, be it noted, being always due 

 to disease of the tree or to the ravages of 

 termites, not to the personal labours of the 

 birds. The bottom of this cavity is often 

 plugged by a termite-nest and accumulation of 

 decayed wood, and on the upper surface of this 

 is made the nest, a very rough-and-ready struc- 



