NATURAL HISTORY. 



305 



Sub-family g. Yuncince. 



YUNX. (Gr. 



Torquilla (Lat. twisting}, the Wryneck. 



rapidity by means of its long tongue, covered with a glutinous 

 secretion like that of the woodpecker. The rapidity with 

 which the ants are taken is so great, that " an ant's egg, 

 which is of a light colour, and more conspicuous than the 

 tongue, has somewhat the appearance of moving to the mouth 

 by attraction, as a needle does to the magnet." The name 

 Wryneck is given it from its habit of rapidly twisting its head 

 and neck, and hissing like a serpent, if disturbed upon its eggs. 

 The young also hiss if they are molested. 



Its eggs are laid on the bare wood in the holes of trees. 

 Like most eggs that are laid in holes, they are of a pure white. 

 The length of the bird is seven inches. 



THE CUCKOO. 



The CUCKOO, spring's harbinger, has, at all ages, obtained 

 for itself a name at once pleasing and disreputable ; pleasing, 

 because its well-known notes are a sign that the cold winter 

 is gone ; and disreputable, because it usurps the nests of other 



