498 THE WRYNECK OR ANT-EATER. 



species in the world, only one in Europe. Hence the only one 

 in Britain, Yunx Torquilla. 



The Wryneck or Ant-Eater. 



Yunx Torquilla. (Linn). 



" Though far-off birds hae feathers braw, 

 The modest wryneck dings them a'." 



This finely-pencilled, variegated bird forms the link between 

 the woodpecker and the cuckoo, between genus Picus and 

 Cuculus. It is classed with the woodpeckers owing to its long, 

 projectible tongue, which it uses in getting insects. It also 

 nestles in holes of trees, and lays from 7 to 10 pure white eggs 

 on soft chips of the rotten wood like the woodpeckers. Twenty- 

 two eggs have been taken out of a nest at different times 

 rather than desert. They are f 16 , about the size of the robin's. 

 It is not such a forest bird as the woodpecker, prefers orchards, 

 and selects holes in apple trees for its nest, and also roosts in 

 holes of trees. Its feet and sharp claws for climbing are the 

 same, but it wants their peculiar form of tail, which enables 

 them to stick to the boles of trees, it being like the cuckoo's. 

 It gets its name from the strange habit of twisting its neck with 

 a slow undulating motion, like that of a snake — turning its head 

 back and closing its eyes. In this motion the black streak on 

 the dorsal line of the neck gives it a curious twisted appearance. 

 When caught it never ceases this motion, even the young in the 

 nest have the same habit, so that " wryneck" is most 

 appropriate. It is also called the ant-hunter and snake-bird, 

 from its habit of hissing like a snake when on its nest. It 

 stretches up at full length, erects the feathers on its head, which 

 it moves from side to side so like a snake that sometimes the 

 nest-hunter is frightened, thinking it a snake instead of a bird. 

 It is called the cuckoo's footman, as it arrives in Britain a few 

 days before that bird. It is a summer migrant, generally 

 diffused in England but rare in Scotland. I have seen it in 

 Gilston Woods, and the gamekeeper told me he had shot it 

 there. Like many rare birds it may be flitting unobserved about 

 our woods in Fife, as it is a shy, modestly attired, yet delicately 



