TIN: WRYNECK :;IT 



the young of barbels, have the "heel" protected by a curiously 

 roughened pad, whose function is not quite clear. Young wood- 

 peckers of the .got as one would expect, possess a similar pad. 

 As soon as they leave the nest these pads disappear. 



Our woodpeckers remain with us the year round; not so, how- 

 ever, is it with the wryneck, which arrives with the cuckoo and departs 

 with him that is to say, they reach us at about the same time, though 

 they may not necessarily travel in company and so fixed is this rule 

 that the wryneck, in consequence, is commonly known as the "cuckoo's 

 mate." Its presence among us it announced by its call pee pee fit 

 pee pee, though this, resembling as it does that of the resident lesser 

 spotted-woodpecker, sometimes causes the unwary and expectant to 

 proclaim the arrival of the migrant some weeks before it actually takes 

 place. 



Soon after their arrival, if the weather be favourable, the wry- 

 neck begins his courtship, concerning which, however, much remains 

 to be learned, though enough has been seen to show that it is re- 

 markable, among other things, for the strange play of the head and 

 neck. Thf pairing birds, standing on a bough, facing one another, 

 twist and turn the long lithe neck about with an indescribable 

 writhing motion, the beaks pointing straight upwards. So much I 

 have myself witnessed; but I have not yet had an opportunity of 

 watching these birds at this time of year with sufficient closeness 

 to be able to study the whole of the antics which I am certain must 

 take place. 



In addition to the curious cry just referred to, the wryneck, if 

 molested when sitting, utters a most realistic snake-like hissing, which, 

 issuing from the dark recesses of its nursery, is undoubtedly discon- 

 certing. The young also hiss, as it may be remembered do young 

 woodpeckers, but the adult woodpecker seems to have discarded 

 this device. But the young also, Miss E. L. Turner tells me, make a 

 most delightful sound all together, in the nest, just like the jingling of 

 silver coins. Hissing, however, is but one means employed by the 



VOL. ii. 



