Organs of Nutrition 123 
possesses a tongue of remarkable length, even for a wood- 
pecker, and while feeding, the bird will often shoot it 
Fie. 95.—Head of Flicker, showing tongue slightly protruding 
out two or three inches beyond the tip of the beak. 
Easily and without a hitch it disappears again, appa- 
Fig. 96.—Skull of Flicker, showing rear branches of the hyoid bone, curving up 
over the skull and down into the right nostril. The front of the tongue is 
visible beyond the tip of the beak. 
rently down the very throat of the bird. If we carefully 
remove the skin from the skull of a dead Flicker, the 
magic will become plain. When we spoke of the skull 
