WRYNECK 187 



with his beak, nor does he support himself with his tail, the feathers 

 of which are soft, as in most perching birds. He is a singular bird, 

 differing from all others in form, colouring, language, and habits. 

 His variously coloured plumage, so curiously and beautifully barred 

 and mottled, is most like that of the nightjar ; but his beauty appears 

 only when he is seen very near. At a distance of twenty-five or 

 thirty yards he is obscure in colouring, and is more remarkable for 

 his attitudes and gestures, when seen on a tree trunk deftly and 

 rapidly picking up the small ants on which he feeds. When 

 thus engaged he twists his neck, turning his head from side to side 

 in a most singular manner ; hence the name of wryneck. "When 

 taken in the hand he twists his neck about in the same manner, 

 and hisses like a snake, as he also does when disturbed during incu- 

 bation ; and on this account he has been called snake-bird. When 

 held in the hand he sometimes swoons, and appears to be dead until 

 released, whereupon he quickly recovers and makes his escape. 

 Even more characteristic than his contortions, hissings, and ' death 

 feignings,' is his voice. It is an unmistakable and familiar sound 

 of early spring, as distinctive as the shrill cry of the swift and the 

 cuckoo's call a clear, high-pitched, far-reaching note, reiterated 

 man} 7 times a sound that makes itself heard at a distance of a 

 quarter of a mile. As a rule, this note is heard a few days before 

 the cuckoo's call, and on this account the wryneck is known in the 

 southern counties, where he is most common, as the cuckoo's mate, 

 or messenger, or boder, and is also called the cuckoo's maid. 



The wryneck feeds chiefly on ants and their larvae, and, like the 

 green woodpecker, he goes to the anthills on commons and unculti- 

 vated grounds ; the insects are taken with the long, retractile tongue, 

 which is covered with an adhesive saliva, and which the bird, when 

 feeding, darts out and withdraws with lightning rapidity. 



A hole in the trunk of a tree, often near the roots, is a favourite 

 nesting-place. The eggs are seven to ten in number, and are de- 

 posited, without any nest, on the rotten wood. They are pure white, 

 and have glossy shells. The same breeding-hole is used year after 

 year. 



The wryneck is most common in the southern and south-eastern 

 counties ; in the West of England and in Wales it is rarer. In the 

 northern counties of England it is also rare and local ; in Scotland 

 it does not breed, and in Ireland it is not known. 



