128 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



THE THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. Apterus tridactylus. 

 The forests of the northern and eastern portions of Europe, 

 as well as those of Asia, are the abodes of the present spe- 

 cies. It is very abundant in Norway, Russia, and Siberia, 

 and is common in the Swiss Alps. A hole in a pine-tree is 

 a favourite receptacle for its eggs, which are white, and four 

 or five in number. 



THE WRYNECK. Yunx torquilla. This bird, nearly al- 

 lied to the Woodpecker, is easily distinguished by its peculiar 

 note, which is powerful for so small a bird, and greatly re- 

 sembles the scream of the Kestrel. Through two or three 

 summers we have had a pair of these birds settled in the 

 hollow of an old apple-tree, in our garden ; where, with no 

 other preparation than that which the mouldering wood 

 within the cavity supplied, they have deposited their eggs, 

 of the purest white when blown, but previously of the 

 most delicate pink hue, having almost a pearly appearance. 

 Last year several of these eggs were laid ; the first about 

 the 23rd of May; this year (1857) the first egg was laid 

 about the 24th of May. (PI. X. fig. 75.) 



