WRYNECK 449 



the breast and flanks are dull white with small blackish-brown spots 

 and bars. The hen, besides being slightly smaller than the cock, which 

 is 7 inches long, is duller in the colour of her plumage. Young birds 

 may be recognised by the somewhat more numerous dark markings 

 on the under surface of the body, the statement in one work to the 

 effect that this surface is white being incorrect. 



The wryneck is a migratory species, which derives its name of 

 cuckoo's mate from generally arriving about the same time as the 

 cuckoo, that is to say early in April, although it is said sometimes 

 to make its appearance in March. Indeed, there are isolated instances 

 of the occurrence of the bird in East Anglia in mid-winter. The 

 usual time of departure is September. After crossing the Mediterranean, 

 the wryneck spreads itself over the greater part of Europe, reaching 

 even as far north as the Faroe Islands, and in Scandinavia to about 

 latitude 62°, which seems to mark the extreme limits of its Poleward 

 wanderings. Eastwards the species ranges across Europe and Central 

 and northern Asia apparently to Kamchatka and Japan. In their 

 winter journey European birds visit Senegambia, Kordofan, and the 

 adjacent districts of Africa, but those from Central and eastern Asia 

 resort to the plains of India, Burma, and China. Despite its high 

 Scandinavian range, in the British Isles the wryneck is most common 

 in the southern counties of England, gradually becoming less abundant 

 in the Midlands, till in the north of England, and still more so in 

 Scotland, it must be regarded as quite a rare bird. Nevertheless it has 

 occurred occasionally even so far north as the Orkneys and Shetland. 

 Up to 1900 only six instances of the occurrence of the wryneck in 

 Ireland were recorded, and all took place on islands or near the coast. 



The five-syllabled cry of the wryneck is, to use an old-fashioned 

 expression, one of the well-known heralds of spring. To all observant 

 dwellers of the country, this cry is so thoroughly familiar that no 

 description is necessary ; and since one writer likens it to the call of 

 a kestrel, while a second compares it to the note of the lesser spotted 

 woodpecker, we will not attempt any such description for the benefit 

 of those to whom the wryneck's cry is unknown. Medium-sized or 

 low trees, bushes, or grass form the favourite resorts of the wryneck, 

 which feeds solely upon insects and more especially ants. A familiar 

 habit of twisting the neck has given rise to the ordinary name of the 

 species ; and it is probably to the same peculiarity that the title of 

 snake-bird owes its origin. As already stated, wrynecks occasionally 

 climb tree-stems in woodpecker-fashion. The nest is invariably placed 

 in a hole in a tree, which may or may not be excavated to som.e 



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