186 



BRITISH BIRDS 



wooded tree ; it is carried straight to the heart of the wood, and is 

 then extended downwards to the depth of about a foot. In most 

 cases it is found that the heart of the tree selected by the birds is 

 rotten, although outwardly no signs of decay may appear. The 

 hole ends in a chamber in which the eggs are deposited on a slight 

 bed of chips ; the eggs are four to seven in number, are oval in form 

 and have pure white polished shells. The young when nVd-j.-d 

 come out of their cell in the tree's heart, and creep about the bark 

 for some days before they are able to fly. 



The same breeding-hole is used for several years, if not taken 

 possession of by a pair of marauding starlings, which not unfrequently 

 happens. 



Wryneck, 

 lynx torquilla. 



Upper parts red- 

 dish grey, irregularly 

 spotted and lined with 

 brown and black ; a 

 broad black and brown 

 band from the back of 

 the head to the back ; 

 under parts dull 

 white, tinged with 

 buff, and barred with 

 dark brown, except on 

 the breast and belly, 

 where the markings 

 become arrow-headed 

 in form ; outer web of 

 the quills marked with 

 rectangular, alternate 

 black and yellowish 

 red spots ; tail-feathers 



barred with black zigzag bands ; beakVmd feet olive-brown. Length, 



seven inches. 



The wryneck is placed by anatomists next to the woodpeckers, 

 and is like them in the form of its feet and the habit of perching 

 vertically on the trunks of trees ; but he does not dig into the wood 



FIG. 62. WRYNECK. natural size. 



