CHAPTER XXI 



ORDER OF WOODPECKERS 



PICI 



THE Woodpeckers are the natural protectors of the forests 

 of the temperate zone. But for them, tree-borers 

 would multiply without limit, and the number of trees that 

 would fall before the insect pests is quite beyond computation. 

 While the robin, the thrush and the warblers take care of the 

 caterpillars and the leaf-insects generally, the woodpecker 

 sticks to the business of his own guild, and looks after the 

 pests that attack the bark and the wood. The tree-creepers 

 assist by picking off insects from the outside, but when it 

 comes to the heavy work of digging borers out of the bark by 

 main strength, the woodpecker is the only bird equal to it. 



There are about twenty-five species of woodpeckers in 

 the United States. 



Usually, the long, barbed tongue of this bird is sufficient 

 to spear a borer, and drag it forth to meet the death it deserves. 

 When this will not do the work, the woodpecker's claws take 

 a good grip on the bark, and serious work begins. 



Do not think, however, that because a rolling tattoo 

 beaten on a hard dead limb can be heard a quarter of a mile, 

 that the bird making the noise is working unusually hard. 



Quite the contrary. The loud tattoo is a signal, like the "cer- 



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