422 THE GKEEN WOODPECKER AND THE WRYNECK. 



is variegated with black. The total length of this bird is between nine 

 and ten inches. 



The commonest of the British Woodpeckers is that which is generally 

 known by the name of the Green Woodpecker. It has, however, 

 many popular titles, such as Rain-bird, Wood-spite, Hew-hole, and 

 Wood-walh This bird is our representative of the Gecinse, or Green 

 Woodpeckers. 



Although the Green Woodpecker is a haunter of woods and forests, 

 it will sometimes leave those favored localities and visit the neighbor- 

 hood of man. The grounds between the Isis and Mertou College, 

 Oxford, are rather fiivorite resorts of this pretty bird. 



The name of R;iin-bird has been given to this species because it 

 becomes very vociferous at the approach of wet weather, and is, as Mr. 

 Yarrell well observes, " a living barometer to good observers." Most 

 birds, however, will answer the same purpose to those who know how 

 and where to look for them. The other titles are equally appropriate, 

 Wood-spite being clearly a corruption of the German term specht, 

 Hew-hole speaks for itself, and Wood-wall is an ancient name for the 

 bird, occurring in the old English poets. 



The other British species are the Great Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus 

 Martins), the Northern Three-toed Woodpecker [Flcoides tridactylus), 

 and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Plcus minor). 



The curious bird known under the popular and appropriate name of 

 the Wryneck is by some considered to be closely allied to the Wood- 

 peckers. 



The Wryneck is a summer visitant to this country, appearing just 

 before the cuckoo, and therefore known in some parts of England as 



the cuckoo's footman. There 

 is a Welsh name for this bird, 

 signifying "cuckoo's knave" 

 — Gwas-y-gog. 



The tongue of this bird is 

 long, slender, and capable of 

 being projected to the distance 

 of an inch or so from the ex- 

 tremity of the beak, and its 

 construction is almost exactly 

 ... - . the same as that of the tongue 



ot the woodpecker. As might be supposed, it is emploved for the same 

 purpose, being used in capturing little insects, of which ants form its 

 favorite diet So fond, indeed, is the Wrvneck of these insects that in 

 some parts of England it is popularly known by the name of Emmet- 

 Aunter. In pursuit of ants it trips nimbly about the trunks and 

 branches of trees, picking them off neatly wiUi its tongue as thev run 



TnE Wryneck [Yanx torquilla). 



