THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



You would find, too, that the woodpecker's tongue is extremely 

 long, and also very slender; so that it can be passed into a very 

 narrow hole. This tongue is very sticky, like that of the toad, 

 and there is a kind of little brush at the tip. And so, if it were 

 only to touch an insect in its burrow, it could easily drag it out. 



Then you would notice that the feet of the bird are very 

 curiously made ; for two of the long toes are directed forwards and 



two backwards, while 

 each has a sharp, curved 

 claw. This is to enable 

 the bird to cling easily 

 to the upright trunk of a 

 tree. 



But, in order to help 

 it in doing so, its tail, 

 which is very short and 

 stiff, is set at such an 

 angle with the body that 

 the bird can rest upon 

 it when it is clinging 

 to a tree-trunk. When, 

 therefore, a woodpecker 

 is engaged in digging out 

 an insect from a tree, 

 it really sits upon its tail, 

 which serves as a kind of 

 stool. Thus we see that 

 nature, besides giving the 

 woodpecker a special work to do, has also furnished it with special 

 tools, as it were, with which to do it. 



Once a pair of woodpeckers made a very ridiculous mistake. 

 Some telegraph wires had been put up, and the birds, hearing the 

 humming sound which these wires make when there is a slight 

 breeze, thought that it was caused by insects which were burrowing 

 in the posts. So they set to work to dig them out, and chipped 

 away so diligently that they made a big hole in the post, and very 

 nearly cut their way out at the other side! 



Woodpecker 



