262 WOODPECKERS. 



Sub-Family VII. 

 THE WRYNECKS. YUNCIN^. 



General Characteristics. — Bill short, straight, with the tip acute; the wings 

 moderate and pointed ; the tail moderate, rounded, and composed of soft and 

 flexible feathers ; the tarsi short ; and the toes moderate. 



These birds arc found in Europe, India, and Africa. In this 

 country they make their appearance at the same time as the ants, 

 upon which they chiefly hvc. Tliey obtain their favourite food by 

 piercin<y the earth with their bill, and then inserting their long, 

 extensile, and glutinous tongue, to which the insects adhere. They 

 are rarely seen on trees, as their soft tail is not strong enough to 

 support them in climbing, although they make their nests in holes 

 in an old tree-trunk. 



The type of this sub-family — 



The Wryneck {Yutix torquilla), a pretty little bird, about the size of a 

 lark, is a summer visitor to our island ; but though common in the southern 

 and eastern counties, it is very rare in the north and west; and in Ireland we 

 believe it is never seen. It arrives in tliis country in April, a few days before 

 the appearance of the cuckoo; and its loud cry oi peep ! peep .' peep ! monoto- 

 nously repeated, is first heard when the leaves of the elm tree are as large as 

 a silver sixpence. Groves, orchards, and woods are the favourite resorts of the 

 wryneck, as also the lines of tall beech trees along hedgerows. Ants are its 

 i;ivourite food, and in search of them it traverses the trunks of trees, examining 

 every crevice, and picking them up by means of its long worm-like tongue. 

 In search of its insect prey it also visits the ground, where it hops and walks 

 with considerable facility, seeking for the nests of ants; and it is astonishing 

 to sec with what rapidity it devours its tiny victims, launching its long tongue 

 at them, and withdrawing it so rapidly that the eye can scarcely follow its 

 movements. Colonel Montague informs us, that having captured a female 

 wryneck, which he confined for some days in a cage, he was enabled to watch 

 its manners very minutely. " A quantity of mould with emmets and their eggs 

 was given to it, and it was curious to see how the tongue was darted forth and 

 retracted, with such velocity and such unerring aim, that it never returned 

 without an ant or an egg adhering to it— not transfixed by the horny point, 

 as some have imagined, but retained by a peculiar tenacious moisture provided 

 for the purpose. While feeding, the body is motionless, the head only is turned 

 to every side, and Vhe motion of the tongue is so rapid that an ant's egg, which 

 is of alight colour and more conspicuous than the tongue, has somewhat the 

 appearance of moving to the mouth by attraction, as a needle flies to a magnet. 

 The bill is rarely used except to remove the mould in order to get more readily 

 at these insects. Where the earth is hollow, the tongue is thrust into all the 

 cavities to arouse the ants, and for this purpose the horny appendage at its 

 extremity is exceedingly serviceable." 



The wryneck breeds in the holes of decayed trees, but does not excavate a 



