I50 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



churring as the birds change their places on boughs 

 of different vibrations." 



These three V^oodpeckers are all resident in 

 England, being commoner in the southern counties, 

 and growing rarer towards the north. 



Another curious bird of the tree-climbing group 

 is the Wryneck. Lie is much less expert in moving 

 on upright surfaces than others of his kin, and is 

 frequentlv seen perched stiffly across a branch, but 

 he is nevertheless a true climber. His plumage is 

 grey and brown delicately blended, and pencilled 

 with black, and his whole appearance harmonizes 

 so well with his surroundings that he is easily over- 

 looked. He, too, is provided with a tongue tipped 

 with the glutinous secretion to which insects adhere, 

 and the rapiditv with which he darts it forth and 

 secures his prev resembles the similar movement 

 of the Chameleon. Perhaps, however, his chief 

 claim to notice is his singular contortion when 

 held in the hand. He then attenuates his neck to 

 an extraordinarv extent, twisting it and writhing 

 from side to side as though in a death-agony. In 

 the belief that he is in extremis, his captor fre- 

 quently releases him, whereupon he incontinently 

 flies away. 



Although science admits no relationship between 

 the Creepers and the AA^oodpeckers, the two species, 

 none the less, have much in common. In their 

 distinctive manner of ascending the perpendicular 

 boles of trees, in their use of claws in climbing, 

 and in several other respects, the Woodpeckers, 



