. Birds through the year . excavation of this gallery is achievedby the power of a beak andbody framed for similarthough less exacting featsof wood-hewing in thepursuit of beetles andgrubs. The bill of thewoodpecker is shaped likethe sharp end of an anvil,and is set in a head andneck of strength well suf-ficient to wield it. Thebird grasps the bough withits zygodactyle feet, inwhich one pair of toesturns forward and onebackward, and props itselfwith the stout quills of itstail. It lifts its bill like amattock, dashes it into the wood, and repeats the blow withthe whole force of muscle working
. Birds through the year . excavation of this gallery is achievedby the power of a beak andbody framed for similarthough less exacting featsof wood-hewing in thepursuit of beetles andgrubs. The bill of thewoodpecker is shaped likethe sharp end of an anvil,and is set in a head andneck of strength well suf-ficient to wield it. Thebird grasps the bough withits zygodactyle feet, inwhich one pair of toesturns forward and onebackward, and props itselfwith the stout quills of itstail. It lifts its bill like amattock, dashes it into the wood, and repeats the blow withthe whole force of muscle working on a fulcrum until thewhite shreds drift one after another down the wind. Theopening of the hole is beautifully circular, and the perpen-dicular shaft expands evenly into the bottle-shaped chamberwhere the eggs lie on a few fragments of wood. The wood-peckers are hole-hewers pure and simple, and make no two smaller spotted species work in the same way, ona smaller scale. They more often drive their galleries in a. GREAT GREEN WOODPECKER
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirdspi, bookyear1922
