THE BIRDS 221 



(Conurus carolinensis)^ we next arrive at the cuckoos and 

 kingfishers, which differ widely in their habits. The black- 

 or yellow-billed cuckoos or rain-crows are shy, retiring 

 birds, with drab plumage, and though seldom seen are often 

 fairly abundant, and are of much service in destroying 

 insects. Unlike their shiftless European relatives, which 

 lay their eggs in the nests of others birds, they build their 

 own airy homes in some bush or hedgerow, and raise their 

 brood with tender care. The belted kingfisher (Ceryle 

 alcyon) is also of a retiring disposition, and spends much 

 of its time on some branch overlooking the water, occa- 

 sionally varying the monotony by dashing after a fish, or 

 flying with rattling cry to another locality. Their nests 

 are built in holes in banks, and six or eight young are 

 annually reared. 



208. The woodpeckers (Pici). The woodpeckers are 

 widely distributed throughout the world, and are preemi- 

 nently fitted for an arboreal life. The beak is stout for 

 chiseling open the burrows of wood-boring insects, which are 

 extracted by the long and greatly protrusible tongue. The 

 feet, with two toes directed forward and two backward, are 

 adapted for clinging, and the stiff feathers of the tail serve 

 to support the bird when resting. Almost all are bright- 

 colored, with red spots on the head, at least in the males, 

 which may further attract their mates by beating a lively 

 tattoo with their beaks on some dry limb. The glossy 

 white eggs are laid in holes in trees, and both parents are 

 said to share the duties of incubation and feeding the 

 young. Among the more abundant and well-known species 

 is the yellowhammer or flicker (Colaptes auratus), which 

 extends throughout the United States. Somewhat less 

 widely distributed is the red-headed woodpecker (Melaner- 

 pes erythroceplialus), and the small black-and-white downy 

 woodpecker (Dryobates pulescens}. This is often called 

 sapsucker, but incorrectly so, as, like all but one of our other 

 woodpeckers it feeds on insects. The yellow-bellied wood- 



