256 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



can find of its arrival,* and the 25th of September 

 being the latest note of its stay, t It is not a very 

 common bird in these parts, and is not often to be 

 seen about, nor are many specimens to be seen at 

 the birdstuffers' shops, but this may arise as much 

 from its being overlooked, on account of the general 

 sombre colour of its plumage which consists of 

 various shades of brown, as from its actual scarcity. 

 Montagu, however, says it is more common in the 

 eastern than in the western counties, adding that it 

 is very rarely found in Cornwall. 



The food of the Wryneck consists in a great 

 measure of grubs, caterpillars and various other 

 insects, which it picks out of the bark of trees, like 

 the Woodpeckers, by means of its long tongue, the 

 end of which, like that of those birds, is always 

 moist with a sort of glutinous substance secreted by 

 the bird ; but it does not climb the trunks of trees in 

 search of food like those birds. Ants and their eggs 

 form a very large portion of the food of the Wry- 

 neck, so much so that Montagu says it has with 

 considerable propriety been called the "Emmet- 

 hunter : " Yarrell, quoting Bechstein, adds elder- 

 berries to the list of food. 



Like the Woodpeckers, the Wryneck generally 

 lays its eggs in a hole in a tree, without making 

 much or indeed any nest. 



* < Zoologist ' for 1864, p. 9044. j Id., 1865, p. 9810. 



