TIIK WlfSNKf K. 3-31 



grotesque contortions (whence its name, fiinko-hird), becomes an object of (error to ;i 

 timid intruder, when the bird, taking advantage of a moment of indecision, darts with tlic 

 rapiditv of lightning from a situation whence escape seemed impossible. 



Caterpillars and a variety of insects form (he food of th(> wryneck, and it is a great 

 devourer of ants and their eggs, l^lder-berries have been mentioned as being a part of 

 its diet. 



Mr. Yarrell thus describes the construction of the tongue and its appendages In this 

 species : — " By an elongation of the two posterior branches of the bones of the tongue, 

 and the exercise of the muscles attached to them, this bird is able to extend the tongue 

 a very considerable distance bej^ond the point of the beak ; the end of the tongue is horny 

 and hard ; a largo and long gland is situated at the under edge of the lower jaw on each 

 side, which secretes a glutinous mucus, and transfers it to the inside of the mouth by a 

 slender duct. With this glutinous mucus the end of the tongue is always covered, for 

 the especial purpose of conveying food into the mouth by contact. So unerring is the 

 aim by which the tongue is darted out, and so certain the effect of the adhesive moisture, 

 that the bird never fails in attaining its object at every attempt. So rapid, also, is the 

 action of the tongue, in thus conveying food into the mouth, that the eye is unable 

 distinctly to follow it." 



Colonel Montagu says : "We were enabled to examine the manners of this bird minutely, 

 by taking a female from the nest, and confining her in a cage for some days. A quan- 

 tity of mould, with emmets and their eggs, was given it ; and it was curious to observe 

 the tongue darted forward and retracted with such velocity, and ■with such unerring aim, 

 that it never returned without an aiit or an egg adhering to it, not transfixed by the 

 horny point, as some have imagined, but retained by a jjeculiar tenacious moistui'e by 

 nature provided for that purpose. AVhile it is feeding the body is motionless, the head 

 only is turned to every side, and the motion of the tongue is so raj^id that an ant's egg, 

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

 appearance of moving towards the mouth by attraction, as a needle flies to a magnet. 

 The bill is rarely used except to remove the mould in order to get more readily at these 

 insects : where the earth is hollow the tongue is thrust into all the cavities to rouse the 

 ants ; for this piu'pose the horny appendage is extremely serviceable as a guide to the 

 tongue. We have seen the green woodpecker take its food in a similai' manner." 



The smooth, shining white eggs — from six to ten in number — are generally 

 deposited in a hole of a tree or the decayed wood. The birds are remarkable 

 for local attachment, as the following anecdote, related by Mr. Salmon, will 

 prove : — " I wished," writes that gentleman, " last spring to obtain the eggs of a wry- 

 neck to place in my cabinet, and, accordingly, watched very closely a pair that had 

 resorted to a garden for the purpose of incubation ; I soon ascertained that they had 

 selected a hole in an old decayed apple tree for that purpose, the entrance to which was 

 so small as not to admit my hand. The tree being hollow and decayed at the bottom 

 near the ground, I was enabled to reach the nest by jjutting mj^ arm upwards, and I 

 foimd, on withdrawing the nest, that the underneath part of it was composed of moss, 

 hair, &c., having every appearance of an old nest of the redstart of the preceding 

 summer, which I suspect was the case ; the upi^er j^art was made of dried roots. The 

 nest did not contain any eggs, and I returned it by thrusting it up in the inside of the 

 tree. On passing by the same tree about a week afterwards, my attention was arrested 

 by observing one or two birds leaving the hole, upon which I gently withdi'ew the nest, 

 and was much gratified at finding it contained five most beautiful glossy eggs, the shells 

 of which were perfectly white, and so transparent that the yolks shone through, giving 

 them a delicate pink colour, but which is lost in the blo-iring. I replaced the nest, and 

 visited it during the ensuing -neek, and was induced, out of curiosity, to examine it again. 



