THE WOODPECKER. 2Q3- 



aigjgn in the adaptation of means to ends, and of ani- 

 uiul construction to particular purposes, which- is in- 

 deed visible in every part of the created system. Bt- 

 rug destined to live chiefly on the insects whirl* 

 lodge in the trunks of trees, nature has furnished this 

 bird with a bill of extraordinary hardness, sharpness, 

 and strength. Its tongue also being of a great length, 

 and terminating in a sharp, stilii and bony point, 

 dentated on each side, is peculiarly fitted for striking 

 ants and insects, when forced from their cells. Its 

 legs, being short and strong, are exceedingly well 

 adapted to the purposes of climbing; and the toes 

 standing two forward and two backward, arc equally 

 serviceable in holding fast to the upright trunks of 

 trees. This bird, being destined to feed solely oiv 

 insects, wants that intestine which anatomists call the 

 coocum, a circumstance peculiar to the woodpecker 

 tribe. 



When this bird discovers a tree that is likely to 

 contain its favorite food, or appears fit for a habita- 

 tion, wherein to lay its eggs and nurture its young, 

 it immediately begins to make a round hole in the 

 trunk, of about two inches in diameter. This is not 

 performed by boring with its beak as with a gimlet, 

 as some have asserted, but by constant and laborious 

 picking, of which every one may be convinced who 

 frequents the woods and forests where it resides, and 

 sees its operations, or hears the noise which it makes 

 in battering the trees. This bird very frequently at- 

 tacks the ant-hill, and devours the industrious little 

 insects, which have there formed a colony, aid are 

 Tar from apprehending so formidable an invasion. 



Of this kind, naturalists have enumerated more 

 than fifty different species, each of those admitting 

 <>f a number of varieties, greatly differing in size, co- 

 lour, and appearance, but agreeing in the character- 

 istic marks already mentioned, and in the habits re- 

 sulting from so peculiar a conformation. The wood- 

 pecker, which is the most common in this country, is 

 about the size of a magpie : its throat, breast/ and 

 belly, are of a pale green; and the back, wings an^ 

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