XXI 

 THE COMMON WRYNECK 



1 LEAVE it to anatomists to determine whether 

 wrynecks are woodpeckers that are turning 

 into other birds, or other birds that are changing 

 into woodpeckers. Certain it is that they are 

 closely allied to woodpeckers. 



Only four species of wryneck are known to exist, 

 and, of these, three are confined to the Dark Continent, 

 while the fourth is a great traveller. It is the bird 

 which is frequently seen in India during the winter, 

 and is well known in England as the " cuckoo's mate/' 

 because it migrates every year to Great Britain at 

 the same time as the cuckoo. Ornithologists call this 

 bird lynx torquilla, plain Englishmen usually term it 

 the wryneck, as though there were only one species 

 in the world. From their insular point of view they 

 are quite right because it is the only wryneck they 

 ever see unless they leave their island. One con- 

 venience of living in a country, like England, poor 

 in species, is that to particularise a bird is rarely 

 necessary ; it is sufficient to speak of the cuckoo, 

 the swallow, the kingfisher, the heron. On the other 

 hand, we who dwell in this country of many species, 

 if we would not be misunderstood, usually have to 



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