PICID.E. 491 



Family II 

 PICID^E. 



Genus— PICUS. (Linn.) 



The generic features are — bill as long as the head, straight, 

 angular, and wedge-shaped at the point, exactly formed to dig 

 out insects and larvae from decaying trees ; the tongue long and 

 extensile, with a tapering horny point, the upper surface and 

 margin having reversed prickles for pulling them out, armed in 

 addition with a glutinous substance constantly exuding from it 

 — so minute is Nature in forming every organ for its use. The 

 legs and toes are short, strong, exactly formed for climbing, 

 the claws being also strong, much hooked, and very sharp for 

 clinging to the bark ; and, to complete the perfect design for 

 climbing trees and supporting the bird, the very tail is specially 

 formed of ten strong elastic shafts as stiff as whalebone, with 

 pointed ends for pressing against the bark, while the bird sits 

 like a slater on a feathered bracket. If you put the under 

 surface of its tail to your hand it takes force to make it slip 

 back. Although all creatures are perfect for the purpose 

 designed, none are more so than the woodpeckers, for the design 

 is clearly seen in the mechanism. Their peculiar form and 

 strength of bill, so well fitted for digging into trees ; their strong, 

 sharp, hooded claws for clinging to the bark, safely anchored by 

 their stiff, pointed tail pressed against it; their singular 

 formation of tongue, which can be extended and thrust into 

 fissures far beyond the point of their long bill, the tip barbed 

 with small filaments, like the teeth of a rake smeared with glue, 

 to draw out the larvae or tiny insects — complete one of the most 

 perfect structures of our universal mother Nature. 



