PLUMAGE OF WRYNECK 137 



occasions in my garden, but it is by no means a 

 frequent or a regular visitor to our district. On 

 one occasion I am almost certain that I saw a 

 wryneck fly out of a large ash-tree, and, strange 

 to say, immediately after a cuckoo had flown out 

 of it. Although this bird is frequently called the 

 cuckoo's mate, it is not in the habit of associating 

 with the cuckoo, the name being derived merely 

 from the fact of its making its appearance about 

 the same time as the cuckoo. The wryneck is 

 one of the most beautiful of our more soberly- 

 clad birds, its plumage consisting of the most 

 exquisite combination of browns and grays, 

 arranged in a series of broken bars, somewhat 

 similar to that of the goatsucker, or, as I prefer 

 to call it, the nightjar. Like the woodpecker, it 

 makes its nest in the holes of trees, etc., and its 

 eggs are very similar to those of that bird, being 

 of a shining white. 



During the present summer (1895) some 

 wrynecks, which have, I believe, made their 

 nest in an elm-tree in a neighbouring meadow, 

 have paid frequent visits to my garden. At 

 times they were very clamorous, though, need- 

 less to add, by no means equal to the sedge- 

 warblers, which are here very abundant, one or 

 other of which was sure to instantly mimic the 

 notes of the wryneck, and an exceedingly clever 

 imitation it was. The wryneck possesses the 

 power of moving its head in every direction, as if 

 the neck were provided with a ball and socket 



