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NATURE STUDY IN SCHOOLS. 



In fig. 54 A is given the tip of the bill of one of the larger woodpeckers. 

 And at B, the tongue of the common downy woodpecker considerably en- 

 larged, showing the barbed tongue with its sharp tip. See D. 



In the flicker we find that the bill is not straight, but curved, and that 

 its tip is not as chisel-shaped as in many of the other species. See fig. 54, 

 C. The termination of the tongue is also greatly modified in the flicker. 

 It is not sharp, nor is it provided with other than a few rudimentary bristles. 

 Thus this woodpecker is incapable of impaling insects. 



We find, however, that the flicker, for that portion of the year when 



Fig. 53. 



Stomach etc. of flicker. A, single compound gland ; o, gullet; L, entrance to proventriculus; To 

 proventrieulus ; b, spleen; R, stomach ; D. duodenum ; P.panereas; I, intestines. 



ants are active, feeds largely upon them. The way in which it catches these 

 insects is peculiar. If we examine the tongue of the flicker we will find that 

 it is fleshy for a greater portion of its length, and that this soft part is cov- 

 ered with an adhesive substance. This is supplied to the tongue from the 

 ducts of two glands, which lie along the sides of the lower jaw and which 

 open just under the tongue. 



The flicker takes his stand by the side of an ant hill, or on it, and with 

 this adhesive coating to his tongue, gathers the ants as they run about him. 



Not only is the tongue of the flicker modified to catch ants, but the 

 stomach is also modified to digest them. Those who have chanced to taste 

 of ants know that they are very acid, and further study shows that this is 

 formic acid. Now in order to digest insects, which contain such a large 

 percentage of formic acid, the proventriculus, or first stomach of the flicker, 



