WRYNECK. 67 



ivs, will cat elderberries. Montagu kept one for a short 

 time, and he observed that the tongue is darted forward and 

 retracted with unerring aim, and at the same time with such 

 velocity, 'that an ant's egg, which is of a light colour, and 

 more conspicuous than the tongue, has somewhat the appear- 

 ance of moving towards the mouth by attraction, as a needle 

 flies to a magnet.' The young are fed with caterpillars, ants, 

 and their eggs. 



The note is peculiar, and somewhat resembles that of the 

 Kestrel, Hobby, and other smaller species of Hawk. It is 

 rendered by the words 'good, good, good,' 'cue, cue, cue, cue,' 

 or 'qui, qui,' and an abrupt 'shick,' the former before the 

 young brood are hatched, and the latter afterwards, but only 

 'sotto voce.' 



The nest is placed in a hole of a tree, the mouldered wood 

 of which seems to supply its chief, or only lining, or rather, 

 layer. The apple tree is frequently chosen. It is made of 

 small roots, and the old nest of a Woodpecker or some other 

 bird would appear to be sometimes adapted, and in some 

 slight degree fashioned with its bill to its own use by the 

 Wryneck. It domiciles at various heights from the ground, 

 and various depths from the surface of the tree, often close 

 to a road side, in view of every passer by. 



The eggs, from six or seven to nine or ten in number, are 

 pure white. Mr. Salmon relates, that having removed the 

 nest of a pair of these birds, in quest of their eggs, and 

 having replaced it, on finding that it did not contain any, 

 they still resorted to it, and he obtained successively from 

 it, though the nest was necessarily again taken out, the several 

 numbers of live, six, four, and seven eggs. The poor bird 

 thus, according to this inveterate and unrelenting bird-nester, 

 'suffered her nest to be disturbed five times, and the eggs, 

 (amounting altogether to twenty-two,) to be taken away at 

 four different periods within the month before she finally 

 abandoned the spot she had selected.' The young are 

 hatched in about fourteen days, and the female bird is so 

 much attached to them, that she may easily be taken, not 

 only while sitting on the eggs, but even after the young are 

 hatched and fledged. The same spot is resorted to year after 

 year. 



Male; weight, about ten drachms; length, about seven 

 inches, or seven and a half; bill, yellowish brown; iris, 

 chesnut brown; head, hoary grey, with a tinge of yellow or 



