THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER 



foothold on smooth, slippery bark. Lest, however, the feet should prove ineffectual, 

 the bird is aided in climbing by its tail, the feathers of which have unusually strong 

 quills, the tips of these being bare and shiny. When this tail is pressed firmly 

 against the bark, the stiff tips of the feathers afford very considerable support to 

 the ascending bird. 



The climax in the way of special adaptation is presented, however, by the 

 woodpecker's tongue, which, owing to the form and structure of the supporting 

 bones, can be thrust out a long distance in advance of the tip of the beak, and 

 is covered with a sticky secretion to which insects adhere. A similar structure 

 obtains in the tongue of the wryneck ; but there are certain foreign woodpeckers 

 in which that organ is normal. 



By means of its strong beak, the spotted woodpecker chisels out in the 

 trunk of a tree, where the wood is more or less decayed, both a sleeping and 

 a nesting hole. A circular entrance leads for some distance horizontally into the 

 heart of the stem, after which the hole descends vertically for some way, and then 

 expands into a large dome-shaped chamber, which serves as a receptacle for the 

 clutch of three to eight white eggs, these being incubated by the male and female 

 birds alternately. It is very generally believed that woodpeckers live entirely 

 upon insects and other invertebrate animals ; this, however, is a mistaken idea, for 

 they likewise eat various kinds of seeds and berries, as well as nuts and walnuts, 

 which they crack in nuthatch-fashion. The cry of the pied woodpecker is either 

 a short and sharp "hi, hi," or a harsh and resounding "has, has"; but a more 

 familiar sound is the tapping on the bark of the stem or larger boughs by the beak, 

 in order that the bird may ascertain whether the wood beneath is sound or rotten. 

 Very characteristic is the undulating flight of a woodpecker, the bird generally 

 dropping suddenly near the end of its course, so as to alight only a short distance 

 from the root of the selected tree, up the stem of which it then rapidly climbs. 



The larger spotted woodpecker frequents woods with different kinds of trees ; 

 but its special favourites are pines, poplars, and willows. 



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