238 WRYNECK. Class II. 



weak ; of a pale a(li color, powdered with black 

 and red, and marked with four eqiiidiftant bars of 

 black. The tongue is long and cylindric ; for the 

 fame ufe as that of the woodpecker. The toes are 

 alfo difpoftd the fame way. The bill is fhort, weak, 

 and a little arcuate. The irides are of a yellowifli 

 hazel. 



The Wryneck we believe to be a bird of pafTage, 

 appearinp; here in the fpring before the cuckoo. 

 The Welftj confider it as the forerunner or fervant 

 of that bird, and call it Gwds y gog^ or the 

 cuckoo's attendant: the Swedes regard it in the 

 fame light*. 



The food of this fpecies is infe(^s, but chiefly 

 ants, for on examination we found the (lomach 

 of one filled with their remains. As the toncrue of 

 this bird, like that of the Ant-hear or Tamandria^ 

 is of an enormous length ; it poflibly not only makes 

 ufe of it to pick thofe infeds out of their retreat, 

 but like that quadruped may lay it acrofs their path, 

 and when covered with ants draw it into its mouth. 

 Its weight is one ounce and a quarter : the length 

 feven inches ; the breadth eleven. It takes ita 

 name from a manner it has of turning its head 

 back to the fhoulders ; efpecially when terrified : 

 it has alfo the faculty of ereding the feathers of the 



* Jynx hieme non apparet, vere autem remigrans, cucuH, 

 poll quatuordecemdies, adventum ruricoh's annuntiat. Jman, 

 arad. IV. 584. 



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