The Woodhewer Family. 243 
that these birds resemble each other only in their 
climbing feet; in the form of their beaks they are 
as wide apart as are nuthatches, woodpeckers, 
crows, and curlews. They also differ markedly in 
the manner of seeking their food. Some dig like 
woodpeckers in decayed wood; others probe only 
in soft rotten wood; while the humming-bird-billed 
Xiphorhynchus, with a beak too long and slender 
for probing, explores the interior of deep holes in 
the trunks to draw out nocturnal insects, spiders, 
and centipedes from their concealment. Xiphoco- 
laptes uses its sword-like beak as a lever, thrusting 
it under and forcing up the loose bark; while 
Dendrornis, with its stout corvine beak, tears the 
bark off. 
In the nesting habits the diversity is greatest. 
Some ground species excavate in the earth like 
kingfishers, only with greater skill, making cylin- 
drical burrows often four to five feet deep, and 
terminating in a round chamber. Others build a 
massive oven-shaped structure of clay on a branch 
or other elevated site. Many of those that creep on 
trees nest in holes in the wood. The marsh- 
frequenting kinds attach spherical or oval domed 
nests to the reeds; and in some cases woven grass 
and clay are so ingeniously combined that the 
structure, while light as a basket, is perfectly 
impervious to the wet and practically indestructible. 
The most curious nests, however, are the large stick 
structures on trees and bushes, in the building and 
repairing of which the birds are in many cases 
employed more or less constantly all the year 
round. These stick nests vary greatly in form, 
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