THE CARPENTER OF THE WOODS. 81 
gives the tree a tap. Then he listens ; for his 
sense of hearing is so acute that he can dis- 
tinguish the insects running about within the 
bark, and trying to make their escape. But 
very soon he has sliced off a piece of the bark, 
and the whole colony lies open before him. 
They scramble here and there in terror; but 
the woodpecker utters a cry of joy, and begins 
instantly to devour them. 
Quick as lightning, he darts out his long 
tongue, transfixes an insect, and draws it back 
into his mouth. In a second, out it comes 
again, takes up another insect, and is gone 
almost before you can see it. 
This long tongue of his is so curious, that 
I think I must spend a few minutes in de- 
scribing it to you. 
It is round, and ends in a sharp bony tip, 
that is barbed like an arrow, and transfixes 
the prey very much in the same manner. 
Two glands, one under each ear, secrete a 
sticky fluid, and keep the tongue always 
moist ; so that every insect it touches sticks to 
it, and is caught as effectually as if it were on 
the point of an arrow. 
Perhaps you wonder how the woodpecker 
p 
