256 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
can find of its arrival,* and the 25th of September 
being the latest note of its stay.| It is not a very 
common bird in these parts, and is not often to be 
seen about, nor are many specimens to be seen at 
the birdstuffers’ shops, but this may arise as much 
from its being overlooked, on account of the general 
sombre colour of its plumage which consists of 
various shades of brown, as from its actual scarcity. 
Montagu, however, says it is more common in the 
eastern than in the western counties, adding that it 
is very rarely found in Cornwall. 
The food of the Wryneck consists in a great 
measure of grubs, caterpillars and various other 
insects, which it picks out of the bark of trees, like 
the Woodpeckers, by means of its long tongue, the 
end of which, like that of those birds, is always 
moist with a sort of glutinous substance secreted by 
the bird; but it does not climb the trunks of trees in 
search of food like those birds. Ants and their eggs 
form a very large portion of the food of the Wry- 
neck, so much so that Montagu says it has with 
considerable propriety been called the ‘ Kmmet- 
hunter:” Yarrell, quoting Bechstein, adds elder- 
berries to the list of food. 
Like the Woodpeckers, the Wryneck generally 
lays its eggs in a hole in a tree, without making 
much or indeed any nest. 
* * Zoologist’ for 1864, p. 9044. + Id., 1865, p. 9810. 
