TROGONS, TOUCANS, AND WOODPECKERS 109 



and pointed, as in the typical Woodpeckers, and this because these 

 birds never use their beak, which is small and delicate, as a pick, 

 as do the true Woodpeckers ; hence they have no need of support 

 from spiny tail-feathers. But the Wryneck is undoubtedly a Wood- 

 pecker, in spite of these differences, as is shown, among many other 

 things, by the structure of the tongue, which agrees with that of all 

 other Woodpeckers in its great length, and in the use to which it is 

 put. 



The Wryneck comes to us in March, or more usually April, from 

 Africa, where the winter is spent. 



Like all the other Woodpeckers, the Wryneck lays several glossy 

 white eggs in the hollow of some decaying tree, making no nest, but 

 using for this purpose the rotten wood at the bottom of the hole. 

 When disturbed the sitting-bird makes a loud, hissing noise, which 

 induces the disturber to suppose that the hole is occupied by a snake, 

 and this is enough to secure freedom from further interference ! On 

 this account, as well as from the remarkable way in which this bird 

 raises the feathers of the head and twists its neck, the name ** Snake- 

 bird " has been bestowed upon the Wryneck. When taken in the 

 hand, the Wryneck, like the Landrail and some other birds, feigns 

 death so successfully that it almost invariably, by this ruse, contrives 

 to escape from its captors. 



