THE WRYNECK. 247 



woodlice, small spiders, and other insects. The 

 ants, which are gathered up wholesale by means 

 of the long glutinous tongue, which the bird 

 darts amongst them with great rapidity, are 

 stored up in the mouth until the return to the 

 nest, when they are ejected in ball-like masses 

 into the open gapes of the clamorous young. 

 The latter quickly assume their feathers, and by 

 the month of August are ready to leave the 

 country with their parents en route for Africa, 

 Asia Minor, and India, where they pass the 

 cold months of the year. But according to the 

 observations of Lindermayer, Dr. Kruper, and 

 others, many spend the winter in Greece 

 amongst the olive groves, and Lord Lilford has 

 seen it in Epirus in March and December 

 ("Ibis," 1860, p. 235). 



In Tangiers, Tripoli, Algeria, Egypt, Nubia, 

 and Abyssinia, it is by no means uncommon. 

 It occurs also in Arabia, and according to Dr. 

 Jerdon (" Birds of India," vol. i. p. 303) is found 

 throughout India, except, perhaps, on the 

 Malabar Coast, where he never saw it, or heard 



