NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



chestnut-brown. Breast streaked and the abdomen barred with 

 black. Tail not stiff as in woodpeckers. Iris red-brown. 

 Bill and legs greenish. 



Lengthy 7.0 ; tail, 2.70 ; wing, 3.40. 

 The female resembles the male. 



Distribution. — Eastern part of Cape Province, Natal, and 

 Transvaal. Northwards through the wooded parts of Africa 

 to the Congo and Upper Nile. 



Habits. — The wryneck is met with singly and in pairs in 

 the woodlands, preferring the more open parts and not the 

 dense, tangled forest. It feeds entirely on insects which it 

 obtains on the trunks and branches of trees. Although it 

 creeps over the bark it does not use its tail to assist it, as is the 

 case with the woodpeckers. It differs also in not tapping the 

 trees or digging out the grubs which prey upon the wood. 

 Its tongue is long and retractile, and is provided with a gummy 

 secretion at the tip. With this it collects small insect prey. 

 The woodpeckers possess a similar tongue. They nest in a 

 hole in a rotten tree trunk. 



Sparrman's Honey Guide {Indicator sparrmani). 

 (Vol. II., p. 88.) 



Description. — Male : dark brown above. Rump and tail 

 coverts with white streaks. Golden-yellow patch on the shoulder. 

 Centre pair of tail feathers brown ; others edged with white. 

 Outer pair white, tipped with brown. Throat black. Slaty- 

 white below, shading to white on the abdomen. Flanks streaked 

 with dark brown lines. Iris yellowish-brown. Bill horn, with 

 a tinge of pink. Legs leaden. 



Lengthy 7.25 ; tail, 3.30 ; wing, 4.40. 



The female differs from the male in being smaller, and it 

 also lacks the black throat patch. 



Distribution. — The whole of Africa from the Cape to 

 Abyssinia and Senegambia. 



