trunks of trees or the sides of a wall, and it searches the crannies and crevices 

 in the bark for insects, drawing them out with its long tongue. 



Although the Wryneck is so shy and retiring that it is not often actually 

 seen, its presence in a district is very soon made known by its singular cry ; 

 this is so loud and piercing in tone that it makes the woods ring again. 

 It is constantly uttered on the first arrival of the birds, and resembles 

 the syllables ' veet-veet-veet-'veet ' uttered very rapidly, and sounding somewhat 

 like a shriller edition of the Green Woodpecker's laugh. Sometimes it is 

 shortened into ' kik-kik-kik-kik] sounding almost like the cry of a Hawk. 

 Once the female has begun to sit, this cry is seldom heard, and by the end 

 of June the Wryneck has become silent. 



The Wryneck is probably paired for life, as a pair will return year after 

 year to the same site in spite of disturbance. When first arrived they are 

 very noisy, and are continually calling loudly to each other, especially in the 

 early morning. The Wryneck lays its eggs in holes in trees ; but, unlike 

 the Woodpeckers, it does not make its own abode, though it often slightly 

 alters the hole which it has chosen ; as a result, the eggs are sometimes 

 visible from the opening, sometimes they are several feet from the aperture. 

 No nest is made, the eggs being deposited on the decayed wood at the bottom 

 of the hole. The Wryneck is a very close sitter, and will hiss in a most 

 alarming manner if surprised in its hole, twisting its head from side to side 

 in a very snakelike manner. Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, 

 and the young are tended with great care by their parents, and are accom- 

 panied by them for some time after they can fly. 



From six to ten eggs are laid : they are pure white without any markings, 

 but are not quite so smooth and polished as those of the Woodpeckers, and 

 therefore may be readily distinguished from those of the Lesser Spotted Wood- 

 pecker from that peculiarity, and by their larger size. In the Zoologist (1872), 

 p. 3227, is an instance of a Wryneck laying an abnormal clutch. In this 

 case, by the judicious abstraction of an egg each day, no fewer than forty-two 

 eggs were taken in a single season from a nest of this bird in an old stump. 

 The eggs vary in length from '9 to '8 inch, and in breadth from '66 to 

 58 inch. 



Only one brood is reared in the year. 



152 



