The climax in the way of special adaptation is presented, however, by the woodpecker’s tongue, which, owing to the form and structure of the supporting bones, can be thrust out a long distance in advance of the tip of the beak, and is covered with a sticky secretion to which insects adhere. A similar structure obtains in the tongue of the wryneck; but there are certain foreign woodpeckers in which that organ is normal. By means of its strong beak, the spotted woodpecker chisels out in the trunk of a tree, where the wood is more or less decayed, both a sleeping and a nesting hole. A circular entrance leads for some distance horizontally into the heart of the stem, after which the hole descends vertically for some way, and then expands into a large dome-shaped chamber, which serves as a receptacle for the clutch of three to eight white eggs, these being incubated by the male and female birds alternately. It is very generally believed that woodpeckers live entirely upon insects and other invertebrate animals; this, however, is a mistaken idea, for they likewise eat various kinds of seeds and berries, as well as nuts and walnuts, which they crack in nuthatch-fashion. The cry of the pied woodpecker is either a short and sharp “hi, hi,” or a harsh and resounding “hæ, hæ”; but a more familiar sound is the tapping on the bark of the stem or larger boughs by the beak, in order that the bird may ascertain whether the wood beneath is sound or rotten. Very characteristic is the undulating flight of a woodpecker, the bird generally dropping suddenly near the end of its course, so as to alight only a short distance from the root of the selected tree, up the stem of which it then rapidly climbs. The larger spotted woodpecker frequents woods with different kinds of trees; but its special favourites are pines, poplars, and willows. THE SENEGAL PARROT (_Pæocephalus senegalus_) Although the name Senegal parrot, or rather _perroquet de Sénégal_, has been applied to several distinct members of the parrot tribe, it is now by general consent restricted to the gorgeously coloured species forming the subject of the accompanying illustration. In addition to this name, it has also the titles of orange-bellied long-winged parrot and black-headed parrot, the first of which is the more distinctive, although the second is preferable on account of its conciseness. The black-headed parrot is a native of Senegambia and some of the countries of the West Coast properly so called, although the exact limits of its distributional area, which probably extend a considerable way into the heart of the continent, are still imperfectly known.