298 



BRANCH CHORDATA 



The trogons (fifty species) are brilliantly colored tropjcal birds. The 

 coppery tailed trogon of Texas is our representative. It is said to be the 

 most beautiful of North American birds. 



Cuckoos (two hundred species) are tropical birds represented in the 

 United States by several species. The rain crow, or yellow-billed cuckoo 

 (Fig. 244), is an example. It feeds on the tent caterpillar which infests 

 our trees. It is the Old World cuckoo which lays its eggs in the nests of 

 other birds, not our American bird. With the species Auis, one nest serves 

 for several females and it sometimes contains thirty eggs. The joint owners 

 share in the care of the young. 



Fig. 244. Yellow-billed cuckoo which feeds upon hairy tent caterpillars. 



(After Brehm.) 



Order XV. Pi'ci. In our latitude this order includes wood- 

 peckers of various kinds and under various common names, such 

 as red-headed and downy woodpeckers (Fig. 245), sap-suckers, 

 and flickers or yellow-hammers. All are arboreal, and all, 

 except the sap-suckers, are insectivorous. Their toes are 

 arranged two in front and two behind, except in a few 

 American three-toed woodpeckers. The tail feathers are 

 stiff and help to brace the bird as it clings to the trunk of 

 a tree and pecks for food. The bill is strong and fitted for 

 drilling holes into trees for nests or to procure food. The 

 tongue is long, flexible, and spear-tipped, so as to enable the bird 



