274 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



not most parts of England, but our country-people 

 are not, as a rule, very discriminating in ornithology, 

 and hereabouts we have heard the epithet above 

 mentioned applied to the Titlark, Pied Wagtail, and 

 any other small birds, except the Swallow family, 

 which may be seen following a Cuckoo in the spring 

 season, a habit that, as far as our own observation 

 goes, does certainly not extend to the present species. 

 Morton, in his work on our county natural history, 

 mentions the Wryneck as " not an uncommon bird 

 in the northern Part of the County near Market 

 Harborough in the Spring Season," and adds, " What 

 becomes of it in the Winter I know not." The 

 migration of birds was, at the time when our author 

 wrote, a very great puzzle to observers, and, in spite 

 of the light thrown upon the subject since his day by 

 many very competent writers, still remains a some- 

 what mysterious matter, concerning which we have 

 all yet much to learn. The fact of the migration to 

 and from our Islands of many species is now well 

 established and commonly known, but the courses, 

 causes, and variations of these travels, and more 

 especially those of local migrations, are subjects upon 

 which all lovers of birds must wish for full and 

 accurate records. No correct observations of the 

 habits of birds, however apparently trivial, are with- 

 out their value. 



To return to our bird, the Wryneck is, although a 

 common species in many parts of England, compara- 

 tively seldom seen, and though constantly heard in 

 April, May, and June, requires to be looked for, as it 

 principally haunts leafy trees, and from its quiet 

 colouring may often be mistaken for another species. 

 Its principal food certainly consists of ants and their 



