500 THE WRYNECK OR ANT-EATER. 



But this is not singular, for, being about the size of many of 

 our smaller birds, and of a plain colour, it is often passed 

 unobserved. The general colour of this handsome bird is 

 yellowish-grey, beautifully mottled with small brown specks 

 and arrow-shaped black bars. A streak of dark brown runs 

 down the nape of the neck to the rump ; tail, long and 

 rounded, grey, mottled with brown, and has four black bars, 

 wings also barred with dark brown ; throat pale yellow, with 

 black bars; breast and belly white ; bill pale brown, short 

 and pointed ; feet and claws brown ; iris chestnut. Female 

 similar. Length, 7 inches by 1 1 . 



Family III. 



Certhiadw (Vig). 



The members of this family are allied to the last in their 

 habits of climbing, but separated by their form of feet, which, 

 instead of having two toes before and two behind, have them 

 the usual way, three before and one behind ; but they are so 

 constructed that they can creep down the trunk of a tree as 

 well as up, their short tarsi, length of toes, especially the 

 hind one, and very sharp curved claws being specially formed 

 to do so. Hence some of them can dispense with the stiff 

 feathers of the tail. Their chief characteristic is long, slender 

 toes and syndactylous feet, that is, having the outward and 

 middle toes united as far as the second joint by a web. The 

 three front toes are pretty close together, and like the hind 

 one are armed with strong sharp claws specially formed to 

 enable them to climb up or down trees, for Nature is no 

 bungling mechanist when she has a purpose to serve. The 

 mobility of their toes is very singular ; being on the universal 

 joint principle, they can turn the hind toe outwards until it 

 forms a right angle to the three front ones, and can twist the 

 others so as to reverse the position, enabling them to run up 

 or down or around trees with perfect ease and wonderful 

 rapidity. 



