THE GREEN WOODPECKER. 165 



pleasure leads them into the depths of the woods 

 and forests, where it delights to dwell. It feeds 

 on insects and larva ; and its hard tongue is ter- 

 minated by a horny point, which particularly fits 

 it for seizing its prey. There is also a very sin- 

 gular mechanism connected with the tongue of 

 this bird, which enables it to shoot it out to an 

 astonishing length, in seizing the insects on which 

 it feeds. It climbs trees generally in a spiral di- 

 rection, and has the power of running along the 

 branches with its head downwards, like a fly on 

 the ceiling. 



The green woodpecker is the most common of 

 the European species. It utters a piercing cry, 

 resembling the words tiacacan, tiacacan ; with 

 which it makes the woods resound. It has also 

 another cry, occasionally heard, which is like a 

 noisy burst of laughter, repeated thirty or forty 

 times in succession. It has likewise a plaintive 

 note, which it uses on the approach of rain ; 

 whence it is sometimes called the rain-fowl. But 

 the sounds for which the woodpeckers are gene- 

 rally the most remarked, is their loud tapping 

 on the barks of trees, which they strike with 

 their strong bills, in order to rouse the insects, 

 and drive them from their retreats. In spring 

 and summer, the green woodpecker is sometimes 

 found on the ground, in search of ants, which he 



