Their Eggs and Nests. 141 



LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER— (Z>^«^r^^^/«x 

 minor ; formerly, Pious minor). 



Barred Woodpecker, Hick-wall, Little Black and 

 White Woodpecker, Crank-bird. — A pretty little bird, 

 very shy, very active, very able to keep itself out of 

 sight, and so, hardly noticed by one in a hundred of 

 those whom Miss Edgeworth would class as more or 

 less nearly connected with the widely-spread family of 

 " No-eyes." It is said to prefer large woods of beech ; 

 and like the other Woodpeckers, makes no nest, but 

 places its eggs in a hollow tree, accessible by only a 

 small hole, the means of access being often at a con- 

 siderable distance from the eggs laid below. The eggs 

 of this little bird are four or five in number, purely 

 white, though seeming to be suffused with a delicate 

 pink hue before they are blown, which arises from 

 the transparency of the shell. They are about | inch 

 long by rather more than \ inch broad. 



WRYNECK— (7?^;/^ torqnilla). 



Cuckoo's-raate, Emmet-hunter, Snake-bird, Long- 

 tongue. — A dear little bird is the Wryneck, with his 

 cheery spring-announcing cry. We willingly pardon 

 its want of melody for its associations. The marvel- 

 lous rapidity with which its tongue is darted out and 

 retracted, enabling it by the aid of the glutinous 

 secretion with which its end is furnished to secure an 

 Ant at every action, is highly interesting as illustrat- 

 ing another of the wonderful and beautiful adaptations 

 provided by the Author of Creation. The Wryneck 

 makes scarcely any nest (if any), but lays its eggs on 



