Aves. 



237 



crack hard nuts. Most of the group are tropical birds, as 

 the macaws and cockatoos, and have gorgeous colors. 

 The only example of the order found in the United States 

 is the parrakeet of Florida. 



The Cuckoos. The cuckoos have the toes in pairs, the 

 outer front toe having been turned backward. In the 

 same group are placed 

 the kingfishers, though 

 this order is confessedly a 

 " mixed lot " that were 

 thrown out of the old 

 group of "climbing 

 birds." 



The Woodpeckers. 

 The woodpeckers are 

 typical climbers, the feet 

 being zygodactyl, that is, 

 with two toes turned 

 forward and two back- 

 ward. In climbing, the 

 stiff tail feathers assist by 

 bracing against the tree 

 below. The bill is 

 straight, hard, and chisel- 

 like, the strong neck 

 muscles using it to drill 

 a hole through bark and 

 wood after insect larvae. 

 When the larva is reached, 

 it is secured by the slender tongue, hard and barbed at the 

 tip, which is darted out and withdrawn with force and pre- 

 cision. The mechanism for projecting the tongue can 

 hardly be understood without actual examination. There 



FIG. 142. DOWNY WOODPKCKER. 



From Grinnell's Our Feathered Friends. 



