270 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



occasionally, though very rarely, seen near York ; I have never myself 

 seen it in Yorkshire. Arthur Strickland observes " Being well 

 acquainted with the note of this bird, I have once or twice detected it 

 in this county, but it is evidently out of its usual range." 



Although the Wryneck is not a common species, Yorkshire 

 is not altogether out of its range, as stated by AUis's friend 

 Strickland. The bird is a summer visitant, extremely local 

 in its distribution, being restricted in the nesting season 

 almost entirely to the south and south-east of the West 

 Riding, and that portion of the East Riding which is adjacent, 

 and in these districts it is very sparingly diffused, chiefly in 

 old timbered parks or woods. It was formerly more numerous 

 than it is at the present time, as Denny in his catalogue (1840) 

 described it as fairly abundant in the neighbourhood of Leeds, 

 and near Doncaster Allis stated it was common in 1844. J. 

 Heppenstall wrote of it {Zool. 1843, p. 247), as an annual 

 visitant in spring near Sheffield, arriving on 19th April of 

 that year ; and at the famous Charles Waterton's residence, 

 Walton Hall, it is recorded yearly. One was shot at Honley, 

 near Huddersfield, on 22nd May 1864, while Talbot reported 

 one in May 1875, in Cannon Hall Park, near Wakefield. 

 Thus it is evident, from these old records, that the bird nested 

 in the West Riding. 



The present day information indicates that its numbers 

 are much fewer, and probably the causes which have led to 

 the decrease of the Woodpeckers are responsible for the 

 scarcity of the Wryneck. At Fellbeck in Nidderdale it is 

 recorded in spring {Nat. 1886, p. 188) ; also at Harrogate, Dean 

 Hall Wood, near Fewston, Newton Kyme, and Ackworth, 

 but it is everywhere spoken of as being rare. Those old-time 

 ornithologists, Marmaduke Tunstall of Wycliffe-on-Tees, and 

 George Allan, wrote of this bird as being a regular visitant in 

 the neighbourhood of their residences (Tunst. and Allan MS., 

 1784) ; it is mentioned in Graves's " History of Cleveland " in 

 1808 ; and, in his " Catalogue of Birds of Cleveland and S.E. 

 Durham," 1845, J. Hogg described it as migrating early in 

 spring, and not uncommon in the district. Now, however, 

 it is but rarely met with in north-east Yorkshire : I have 



