296 



Birds. 



THE WEYNECK. (Yunx torquilla.) 



THIS bird, Mr. Gould tells us, has received its English 

 name from its habit of. moving its head and neck in 

 various directions, and with an undulating motion, like 

 that of a snake ; indeed, in some parts of England it is 

 called the snake-bird. When found in its usual retreat 

 in the hole of a tree, it makes a loud hissing noise, raises 

 the feathers of the crown, and writhing its head and 

 neck towards each shoulder alternately, with grotesque 

 contortions, becomes an object of terror to a timid in- 

 truder ; and the bird, taking advantage of a moment of 

 indecision, darts with the rapidity of lightning from a 

 situation where escape appeared impossible. 



The Wryneck deposits its eggs on fragments of decayed 

 wood within a hollow tree, and makes scarcely any nest. 

 The birds when caught young are easily tamed. 



