BRITISH BIRDS. 283 



the scapulars are niceh- freckled, and shaded with 

 brown spots of different sizes; the tail feathers are 

 irregularly barred with black, the intervening" 

 spaces being finely freckled, and powdered with 

 dark brown spots; its bill is rather long, sharp 

 pointed, and pale lead grey; its eyes light brown; 

 but what chiefly distinguishes this bird is the 

 structure of its tongue, which is of considerable 

 length, of a cylindrical form, and capable of being 

 pushed forwards and drawn into its bill again;* it 

 is furnished with a horny substance at the tip; its 

 legs are short and slender; the toes long, two 

 before and two behind; the claws sharp, much 

 hooked, and formed for climbing branches of trees, 

 on which it can run in all directions with great 

 facility. It makes an artless nest of dry grass, in 

 holes of trees, upon dusty rotten wood, the entrance 

 to which is so small as scarcely to admit the hand, 

 on which account its eggs are come at with much 

 difficulty; they are perfectly white, and from eight 

 to ten in number. 



Though in many respects nearly related to the 

 family of the Woodpeckers, being similar to that 

 tribe in the formation of its bill and feet, yet the 

 Wryneck never associates with them, and con- 

 stitutes a genus of itself. It is found in various 

 parts of Europe, and generally appears a few days 

 before the Cuckoo. Its food consists chiefly of 

 ants and other insects, of which it finds great 

 abundance lodged in the bark and crevices of 



* Dissection shows a curious muscular apparatus for this purpose, 

 spirally arranged on the sides of the head, almost encircling each 

 eye, and allowing very considerable extent and motion. 



