Cassell's Book of Birds, Reading 1
Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep
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The Sense of Touch in Birds
If the barbed portion be drawn out of the mouth, a person unacquainted with its nature would think that he had got hold of a very long earthworm. By means of this somewhat complex arrangement, the woodpecker having broken away the bark of a tree by the powerful strokes of its bill and thus laid open the retreat of the insects beneath suddenly darts out its tongue, spears its prey and instantly brings the transfixed insect into its mouth. In snipes and woodcocks, for example, the sensitive extremity of the beak materially assists in procuring their food.
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