THE TONGUES OF WOODPECKERS. 



EELATION OF THE FOEM OF THE TONGUE TO THE CHARACTER OF 

 THE FOOD. 



By Frederic A. Lucas, 



Curator, Department of Comparative Anatomy, 

 United States National Museum. 



Whether the tongues of bird s 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 j)reliminary 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 T*^ell-marked, compact group, and 

 any variation in the structure of a given part, if shown to be directly 

 correlated with some j)eculiarity 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 



' Published by permission of Dr. G. Brown Goode, Director United States National 

 Museum. 



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