The Scottish Naturalist. 257 



loud tapping noise made by their bills on the trees. They were 

 by no means shy, allowing me to get within thirty yards of them 

 without appearing to be in the least disturbed. They flew from 

 tree to tree, generally alighting near the base, but quickly made 

 their way to the top of the trunk. They sometimes ascended in 

 a spiral form ; at other times went straight up for a few yards, 

 then all at once would start off in a zigzag direction. The strong 

 wedge-shaped bill of this bird enables it to bore into decayed 

 wood without difficulty. 



The tongue of the Woodpecker is a remarkable organ : it is 

 very long, and almost transparent. It has the power of extending 

 it a good way beyond the bill^ and withdrawing it in a very rapid 

 manner. From the point it exudes a sticky substance resembling 

 liquid glue ; and thus it is eminently fitted for extracting the in- 

 sects and their eggs, and caterpillars and spiders, on which it 

 feeds, from the fissures in the bark. 



5. Wryneck ( Yunx toi-quilla, L.) — This is a very handsome 

 though plain-coloured bird. It seems to be nearly allied to the 

 Woodpeckers. The toes are long, and placed two before and 

 two behind. Its tongue is also similar, being long and hard at 

 the point : it projects it considerably beyond the mouth in catch- 

 ing its prey, which consists of insects. Its actions are also sim- 

 ilar to those of the Woodpeckers, — often seeking its food in the 

 stems of old trees. It is very fond of ants and their pupae, and 

 larvae, which are captured by means of its long projectile tongue, 

 to the glutinous substance on which they adhere. It places its 

 nest in holes and crevices of trees, — the soft fragments of rotten 

 wood being its only lining. The eggs are white. 



This bird is rarely found in Scotland, though it is not uncom- 

 mon in the south-eastern counties of England, where it arrives in 

 April, and departs again in September. A specimen was cap- 

 tured by a lad on the bank of the Caledonian Railway at Stanley 

 on the 6th September 1878. 



6. Dunlin {Tringa alpina^ L.) — On the 6th January 187 1 

 a Dunlin was shot on the Tay, near the Stormontfield ponds. 

 This is the only one I have heard of having been got in the 

 neighbourhood; but it is common on the sea-coast. There it 

 is nothing unusual to see a flock of over one hundred at a time. 

 They are active little birds, and may be seen every now and 

 again running along the beach in a very rapid manner, when, 

 all at once, they stop and nod the head and toss up the tail : 

 this movement is generally repeated two or three times, and off 



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