THE SWIFTS, WOODPECKERS, ETC. 197 



• Associated in some parts witli the cuckoo,^ presumably 

 because they come and go about the same season of the 

 year, the Wryneck is not uncommon in j^arts 

 of Kent and Surrey, but is rare in the north 

 and west, and but an occasional straggler to Scotland and 

 Ireland. Its habits are not unlike those of the wood- 

 peckers, only, being in some respects less perfectly equipped 

 for tree-climbing, as, for instance, in the absence of stiff 

 tail-feathers, it feeds more on the ground, its worm-like 

 sticky tongue making short work of the ants. It also eats 

 fallen berries at times when ants are scarce. I have also 

 seen it feeding on trees, though never with head downwards. 

 Both birds take part in incubating the eggs, and a loud 

 hissing is at once set up if they are disturbed, so suggestive 

 of snakes that the intruding hand is, as a rule, rapidly 

 withdrawn by the tyro unaccustomed to the ways of this 

 dweller in darkness. The wryneck is no true carpenter, 

 for it makes the best of any hole deserted by woodpecker 

 or tomtit or sand-martin. In appearance it differs from 

 the woodpeckers in the erectile crest and in its curi- 

 ous habit of t^\dsting its neck. It is also an adept at 

 feigning death, a trick known to few of our birds. The 

 glass reveals black bars on the tail and throat, and a black 

 patch in the centre of the back. £^ffgs, 6 to lo, f inch; 

 pure white, with thin shell. 



4. The Kingfisher. 



The kingfisher, loveliest of British birds in plumage, one 

 of the meanest of voice, and certainly one of the dirtiest 

 in its dwelling-place, is to be found along most of our 

 inland waters, where it gives plenty of occupation to those 

 whose business it is to look after the young trout, on 



1 The " impressionist " has strange flights of fancy. Quite recently 

 a writer spoilt an otherwise excellent picture by pressing the compari- 

 son between the cuckoo and corncrake, because, forsooth, each has a 

 double note ! 



