THE ALLIES OF THE PIGEON : AVES 



385 



alighting on the backs of live sheep and digging deep into 

 the flesh for the fat surrounding the kidneys. " The pro- 

 pensity is said to have originated from the bird pecking 

 at sheepskins hanging outside country stations." We have 

 only one member of the group in the United States, the 

 Carolina paroquet, and that has been almost exterminated. 



Woodpeckers. The group Pi'ci (Lat. picus, a woodpecker) 

 forms a well-marked 

 assemblage of climb- 

 ing birds, with two 

 toes in front and 

 two behind (except 

 in the three.-toed 

 woodpeckers). 



Woodpeckers have 

 a strong, straight bill, 

 with which they dig 

 into wood for insects, 

 and a long, barbed 

 tongue, spear-pointed 

 at the end, which 

 enables them to 

 draw their food from 

 beneath the bark of 

 trees. The tail-feathers are usually stiff and pointed, and 

 form a support to rest on while the bird is engaged in 

 feeding. The usual coloration in the group is black and 

 white, but red often appears on the head. The nests are 

 made in holes in trees, and the eggs are white in color. 

 By far the greater number of the woodpeckers are beneficial 

 to the farmer, but the yellow-bellied woodpecker, or sap- 

 sucker (Spliyrapi' cus va'rius, Fig. 204), girdles trees with 

 numerous small holes to get at the sap beneath the bark. 

 The golden- winged woodpeckers (Colap'tes) have lost some 



FIG. 203. Photograph of Cockatoo 



