344 THE WRYNECK 



Reports, I p. 109 ; iii. p. 155, etc. : and Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, pp. 230, 232). 

 [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Unlike the woodpeckers, the wryneck prefers to take 

 advantage of some natural hole or opening in a tree, and has also been known to 

 breed in a sandmartin's burrow or in a hole in a bank, while nesting-boxes are also 

 freely used. No nest is made, and the eggs, which are generally 7 or 8 in number, 

 but have been known to vary from 5-12, and even 14, are pure white in colour. 

 When they are removed singly, the bird has been known to lay as many as 40-42 

 eggs. They are more opaque and less glossy than those of the lesser spotted- 

 woodpecker, and are on the average larger and heavier in proportion. Average 

 size of 100 eggs, *80 x -60 in. [20'4 x 15'37 mm.]. Occasionally these eggs become 

 stained like those of the green-woodpecker. The breeding season extends from 

 about mid-May to early June. Incubation lasts about 14 days, and is apparently 

 performed as a rule by the hen alone, who is a very close sitter, but Naumann 

 states that occasionally the male has been known to relieve her in the afternoon. 

 Only one brood is reared in the season. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. The adults feed largely on ants, but all kinds of insects are eaten, 

 and in the autumn small berries. The young are fed by both parents on boluses 

 of insects, [w. P. P.] 



6. Song Period. In the British Isles from its arrival to about June 4 

 (F. A. Chennel) : to early June and occasionally to the middle of July, while 

 after the young are out a harsh rattle is often made (C. J. and H. G. Alexander). 

 I have also heard the cry uttered by birds on spring migration through Southern 

 Spain. [F. c. E. J.] 



