XI. A FELLOW OF EXPEDIENTS. 



'MONG the birds there is one whose per- 

 sonal appearance is rapidly changing. 

 He illustrates in his present life a 

 process well known historically to all 

 naturalists, viz., the modification of form 

 resulting from changed environment. 

 I refer to the golden-winged woodpecker, perhaps 

 the most beautifully marked bird of the North, 

 whose names are as varied as his habits and accom- 

 plishments. 



Nature intended him to get his living, as do the 

 other woodpeckers, by boring into old trees and 

 stumps for the insects that live on the decaying 

 wood. For this purpose she gave him the straight, 

 sharp, wedge-shaped bill, just calculated for cutting 

 out chips ; the very long horn-tipped tongue for 

 thrusting into the holes he makes ; the peculiar 

 arrangement of toes, two forward and two back ; and 

 the stiff, spiny tail-feathers for supporting himself 

 against the side of a tree as he works. But getting 



his living so means hard work, and he has discovered 



152 



