﻿THE 
  ADAPTIVE 
  MODIFICATIONS 
  AND 
  THE 
  TAXONOMIC 
  

   VALUE 
  OF 
  THE 
  TONGUE 
  IN 
  BIRDS 
  

  

  By 
  Leon 
  L. 
  Gardner, 
  

   Of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Army 
  Medical 
  Corps 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  Lucas 
  1 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  little 
  systematic 
  investiga- 
  

   tion 
  on 
  the 
  tongues 
  of 
  birds, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  an 
  occasional 
  

   description 
  the 
  subject 
  has 
  been 
  largely 
  neglected. 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  

   of 
  reopening 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  subject 
  that 
  this 
  paper 
  is 
  written. 
  

  

  As 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  the 
  tongue 
  is 
  an 
  exceptionally 
  variable 
  organ 
  in 
  

   the 
  Class 
  Aves, 
  as 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  inti- 
  

   mately 
  related 
  with 
  the 
  birds' 
  most 
  important 
  problem, 
  that 
  of 
  

   obtaining 
  food. 
  For 
  this 
  function 
  it 
  must 
  serve 
  as 
  a 
  probe 
  or 
  spear 
  

   (woodpeckers 
  and 
  nuthatches), 
  a 
  sieve 
  (ducks), 
  a 
  capillary 
  tube 
  

   (sunbirds 
  and 
  hummers), 
  a 
  brush 
  (Trichoglossidae), 
  a 
  rasp 
  (vul- 
  

   tures, 
  hawks, 
  and 
  owls), 
  as 
  a 
  barbed 
  organ 
  to 
  hold 
  slippery 
  prey 
  

   (penguins), 
  as 
  a 
  finger 
  (parrots 
  and 
  sparrows), 
  and 
  perhaps 
  as 
  a 
  

   tactile 
  organ 
  in 
  long-billed 
  birds, 
  such 
  as 
  sandpipers, 
  herons, 
  and 
  the 
  

   like. 
  

  

  The 
  material 
  upon 
  which 
  this 
  paper 
  is 
  based 
  is 
  the 
  very 
  extensive 
  

   alcoholic 
  collection 
  of 
  birds 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum, 
  

   Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  which 
  and 
  for 
  his 
  abundant 
  aid 
  

   in 
  numberless 
  ways 
  I 
  am 
  very 
  much 
  indebted 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Charles 
  W. 
  

   Richmond, 
  associate 
  curator 
  of 
  the 
  Division 
  of 
  Birds. 
  To 
  Dr. 
  

   Alexander 
  Wetmore, 
  assistant 
  secretary 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  National 
  Museum, 
  I 
  wish 
  to 
  express 
  my 
  thanks 
  for 
  his 
  kind 
  

   assistance 
  in 
  reviewing 
  the 
  paper 
  and 
  for 
  his 
  help 
  in 
  its 
  preparation. 
  

  

  Part 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  is 
  from 
  my 
  own 
  collection 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  filed 
  

   with 
  the 
  Museum 
  and 
  which 
  came 
  to 
  me 
  in 
  many 
  ways. 
  Dr. 
  Witmer 
  

   Stone, 
  director 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  Sciences 
  of 
  Philadelphia, 
  

   furnished 
  me 
  with 
  much 
  from 
  foreign 
  sources 
  for 
  which 
  I 
  am 
  greatly 
  

  

  1 
  Lucas, 
  F. 
  A. 
  The 
  Taxonomic 
  Value 
  of 
  the 
  Tongue. 
  in 
  Birds, 
  The 
  Auk, 
  vol. 
  13, 
  No. 
  2, 
  

   April, 
  1896, 
  pp. 
  109-115. 
  

  

  Lucas, 
  F. 
  A. 
  The 
  Tongues 
  of 
  Woodpeckers. 
  Bulletin 
  No. 
  7, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Department 
  of 
  Agri- 
  

   culture, 
  Division 
  of 
  Ornithology 
  and 
  Mammalogy. 
  

  

  Lucas, 
  F. 
  A. 
  (1897). 
  The 
  Tongues 
  of 
  Birds. 
  Report 
  of 
  U.S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  1895, 
  

   pp. 
  1003-1020. 
  

  

  No. 
  2591. 
  — 
  Proceedings 
  U. 
  S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  Vol. 
  67, 
  Art. 
  19. 
  

  

  43316—25 
  1 
  1 
  

  

  