£00 NATURAL HISTORY. 
ing up and down the trunks or branches of trees, have 
a long flender tongue,‘'armed with a fharp bony end, 
barbed on each fide, which, with the aififtance of a 
curious apparatus.of mufcles, they dart to a great 
depth into the cleftsof the bark, ¢rom whence they 
draw out the lurking infeéts. °° «°° Wa 
When this bird difcovers a rotten, hollow tree, ° 
it cries aloud, which alarms the infeét ‘colony, and 
ah them in confufion; by which means it is the 
_ detterenabled té get at the prey. By thus deéftroying. 
_thefe infects; which are found fometimes on trees not 
entirely: decayed, it’ fhould feem as if naturé had 
formed this bird for the exprefs purpofe of cleanfing 
fuch trees, as they are generally obferved to thrivé 
and flourifh, after fhey have left them. They are 
likewife very ufeful in deftvoying ants, on which they 
feed, as well as on wood worms and infects. To take 
ants, they adopt the following curious ftratagem : 
They dart their red tongues into the ant hill, which 
“the ants, from the refemblance, fuppofing to be their 
ufual prey, fettle upon it in myriads, whichis ‘no 
fooner done than they ‘withdraw their tongues, and 
devour them. © bak Vite sd ee» 
The green woodpecker is about thirteen inches 
long, twentyone inches in breadth, and weighs fix 
ounces and ahalf. The bill is hard, ftrong and fhaped 
like a wedge. ~Dr. Derham fays it has a neat ridge 
running along the top, which feenis as if it was de- 
figned by -an artift, ‘both for ftrength and beauty. 
The back, neck and leffer coverts of the wings, are 
green, and the rump is of a pale yellow. : 
To thefe may be added, the leffer fpotted and 
Gsuinea woodpeckers.) 84 pare 
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