B74. BRITISH BIRDS. 
from the surface and from the little chinks and crannies into which it 
thrusts its long retractile tongue. Numbers of Wrynecks are caught in 
the south of Europe in autumn for the table with other small birds, which 
are generally very fat at that season. 
Although the bird so often hides amongst the foliage or betakes itself 
to the nearest shelter on the least alarm, its presence in a district is un- 
erringly made known by its singular note. This ery, which bears some 
resemblance to the word vite uttered several times in succession, is con- 
stantly uttered on the arrival of the bird in spring, so loud as to make 
the orchard or the hedgerow ring again. But as the season advances the 
note is less frequently heard, and by the end of June it ceases entirely, 
and the Wryneck becomes not only a solitary but also a silent bird. In 
many parts of Surrey the Wryneck is known by the name of “ Pay-pay,” 
a name which Blyth says has been derived from its Hawk-like note. 
During winter in the south of France I have observed the Wryneck in 
small parties in the leafless trees, my attention being attracted to them by 
hearing their loud quick tapping on the smooth trunks, as rapid as an 
electric bell. Their alarm-note was a somewhat Hawk-like cry sounding 
like kik-kik-kik-kik. 
It is very probable that the Wryneck pairs for life. Season after season 
they return like Swallows to their old nesting-place, even in spite of 
much persecution and disturbance. On their arrival at their breeding- 
grounds they are very noisy, crying lustily to each other, especially early 
in the morning. I have seen a pair in an orchard flying from one apple- 
tree to another, and at length I watched both birds enter a hole m one 
of the tree-trunks, in which they had bred the previous year. Dixon has 
taken its nest from a dead holly-stump on the moors in a clump of these 
trees, no other suitable place being situate within half a mile. The 
Wryneck, like the Woodpeckers, lays its eggs in holes of trees. It does 
not, however, make its own abode, although it often slightly alters the hole 
which it has chosen. This is often selected in the most exposed situation, 
not unfrequently in an orchard, and sometimes in a dead stump in a hedge- 
row. As the bird does not bore its own habitation, the hole varies a good 
deal in size and depth. Sometimes the eggs may be seen from the opening, 
at others they are at arm’s length down the aperture. They are deposited on 
the decayed wood at the bottom with no other nest whatever, and are usually 
laid about the middle of May. They are from six to ten in number, seven 
or eight being an average clutch, and pure white without any markings. 
They are not quite so smooth and polished as those of the Woodpeckers, 
and vary in length from ‘9 to ‘8 inch, and in breadth from ‘67 to °58 inch. 
They most closely approach the eggs of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 
but may generally be distinguished by their larger size and less amount 
of gloss. The Wryneck is one of those birds that bya little judicious 
