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ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



THE WRYNECKS. GENUS IYNX. 



Yunx, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 172 (1766). 



Type, / torquilla (L.). 



Only four species of Wryneck are known, three of whicl 

 are resident in Africa and peculiar to that continent. Th< 

 are /. pectoralis^ which ranges from Natal to the Transvaal, am 

 the Congo Region in the west, /. pukhricollis, confined to the 

 Upper White Nile districts, and /. ccquatorialis, from Shoa and 

 Southern Abyssinia. The fourth species is the Wryneck of 

 Europe. 



I. THE COMMON WRYNECK. IYNX TORQUILLA. 



Yunx torquilla^ Linn. S. N. i. p. 172 (1766) ; Macg. Br. iii. 

 100 (1840). 



lynx torquilla? Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 103, pi. 289 (1875) 

 Newton, ed. Yarr. Br. B. ii. p. 487 (1881) ; B. O. U. Li< 

 Br. B. p. 80 (1883) ; Seebohm, Br. B. ii. p. 372 (1884) 

 Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 261 (1889); Hargitt, Cat. 

 Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 560 (1890). 



Adult Male. General colour above variegated, brown and grey 

 and rufous with black markings and vermiculations, including 

 the tail, the latter grey with irregular bars of white and black ; 

 the scapularies and inner secondaries rather more rufous than 

 the back, with black median stripes ; sides of face and sides 

 of neck, throat, and chest, buff with narrow bars of black, the 

 chin whiter ; a whitish streak above the ear-coverts, which are 

 rufous-brown, barred with black; under-parts creamy-white, 

 with a shade of rufous on the upper breast and sides of the 

 body and thighs, with black arrow-head shaped markings or 

 spots ; under tail-coverts buff, with faint black markings ; 

 " bill, feet, and claws pale greyish-brown ; iris light brown " 

 ( W. Macgillivray). Total length, 6-5 inches; culmen, o'6; 

 w n g> 3*35 ; tail > 2 ' 6 ; tarsus, 07. 



Adult Female. Similar in colour to the male. Total length, 

 6-5 inches; wing, 3-15. 



Young. Similar to the adults, but without any spots on the 

 abdomen. 



