THE TONGUES OF WOODPECKERS. 
RELATION OF THE FORM OF THE TONGUE TO THE CHARACTER OF 
THE FOOD. 
By Freperic A. Lucas, 
Curator, Department of Comparative Anatomy, 
United States National Museum. 
Whether the tongues of birds are of value in classification, or whether 
the modifications of the tongue, at least the external modifications, are 
due to adaptation to the character of the food or the manner in which 
food is manipulated, is a question of much interest. Unfortunately 
the food and feeding habits of birds are so little known that in many 
cases the adaptive characters of the tongue are not recognized, since 
without a knowledge of the one it is difficult or impossible to explain 
the peculiarities of the other. 
The results of the preliminary investigation of the food of North 
American woodpeckers, made by the Division of Ornithology and Mam- 
malogy of the Department of Agriculture, suggested that this group 
would be a most excellent one to study, and the tongues of all available 
species have been examined. 
The woodpeckers are structurally a well-marked, compact group, and 
any variation in the structure of a given part, if shown to be directly 
correlated with some peculiarity of habit, would be a good indication 
that the one was dependent on the other. A comparison of the struc- 
ture and modifications of the tongue with the results obtained from the 
examination of a large series of stomachs will, it is thought, show that 
just such a correlation does exist between the two, and that the form of 
the tongue varies surprisingly according to the nature of the food. 
It is of course always necessary to bear in mind that the food of a 
bird necessarily varies with the season—a fact well shown by the group 
under consideration—and consequently that the peculiarity of the 
tongue may be related to some special kind of food, or particular 
method of obtaining it, pursued during a portion of the year only. A 
1 Published by permission of Dr. G. Brown Goode, Director United States National 
Museum. es 
