32 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



on the trunks and boughs of trees. In the lower 

 plumage the white predominates ; the lower back is 

 white, as are the sides of the head and neck. The 

 shoulders, upper back, wings, and tail are black 

 speckled with white. 



Its habits are those of the woodpecker family. It 

 moves about in a jerky manner, like a mechanical toy. 

 Its method is to start low down on the trunk of a tree 

 and work upwards, searching for insects. Unlike the 

 nut-hatch, the woodpecker seems to object to work- 

 ing head downwards, so that, when it reaches the top 

 of the tree, it flies off to another. Its movements in 

 the air are as jerky as those on the tree-trunk. 



While other birds are hunting for insects that fly in 

 the air, or creep on the ground, or lurk under the 

 leaves of trees, the woodpecker has designs on those 

 that burrow into tree-trunks or hide in the crevices 

 of the bark. These the woodpecker evicts by means 

 of its bill and tongue. The former is stout and square 

 at the end, which presents a chisel-like edge. The 

 bird is thereby enabled to cut holes in the hardest 

 wood. Occasionally it literally excavates its quarry, 

 but, as a rule, it is not obliged to resort to such drastic 

 measures. A series of vigorous taps on the bark under 

 which insects are lurking usually frightens them to 

 such an extent that they bolt from their hiding-places 

 as hastily as men leave their habitations during an 

 earthquake. When the insects expose themselves the 

 woodpecker's tongue comes into operation. This organ 

 is a fly-paper of the most approved " catch-'em-alive-o" 

 type. It is covered with a secretion as sticky as bird- 



