144 picnxaE. 



slip of muscle, by the contraction of which the bow is 

 shortened, and the tongue pushed forward ; another pair 

 of muscles folded twice round the upper part of the trachea, 

 and from thence passing forward, are attached to the an- 

 terior part of the tongue, and by their contraction bring 

 the tongue back again. The tongue itself is furnished at 

 the tip with a horny point, and also with four or five short 

 bristle-like hairs on each side, which are directed back- 

 wards. At each side of the head of the bird, behind and 

 below the external orifice of the ear, is a large and elongated 

 parotid gland, from which a membranous duct passes as 

 far forwards as the point of union of the two bones, form- 

 ing together the lower mandible, on the inner surface of 

 which the glutinous secretion of these large glands passes 

 out, and may be seen to issue on making slight pressure 

 along the course of the glands. The flattened inner sur- 

 face of the two bones which are united along the distal 

 part of their lower edge, forms the natural situation of 

 the tongue when at rest within the mandibles ; and every 

 time it is drawn into the mouth when the bird is feeding, 

 it becomes covered with a fresh supply of the glutinous 

 mucus. From a close examination of the contents of the 

 stomach of many Green Woodpeckers, I am induced to 

 believe that the point of the tongue is not used as a spear, 

 nor the food taken up by the beak, unless the subject, 

 whatever it may happen to be, is too heavy to be lifted by 

 adhesion. 



Insects of various sorts, ants, and their eggs, form the 

 principal food of the Green Woodpecker ; and I have 

 seldom had an opportunity of examining a recently -killed 

 specimen the beak of which did not indicate, by the earth 

 adhering to the base, and to the feathers about the 

 nostrils, that the bird had been at work at an ant-hill, and 

 this species is therefore more frequently seen on the ground 



