The Wryneck. ^1 



It was about half grown, and had probably dropped out of 

 its nest and crawled away some distance from it: its plumage 

 was grey, or rather ash-coloured, spotted with rusty red and 

 white: it had moreover a decided crest, a yellow mouth, and 

 a very long tongue. At first I was quite puzzled to make 

 out*what kind of bird it could be, nor could Mendel, the 

 gardener, enlighten me: he had never seen one like it before. 

 "Well, I turned over the pages of Cuvier, Bechstein, and an 

 odd volume of natural history, of which the title-page had 

 long disappeared, and at last identified the stranger as the 

 Yunx torquilla of Linnaeus, le Torcol of the French, and der 

 germeiner Wendehah of the German author above mentioned. 



I was a good deal from home at that time, attending some 

 classes, and preparing for an examination, so the bird was 

 handed over to Marguerite, our old cook, who was as great 

 an enthusiast in the matter of birds as I was myself. I had 

 attempted to feed the young thing with milk and blenoir, 

 egg and bread-crumbs, but in vain, for it would not open 

 its mouth, and I was obliged to leave it, scarcely expecting 

 to find it alive on my return, as it was pufi'ed out, kept its 

 eyes shut, and was evidently very weak. 



I thought a good deal about my bird during the day, and 

 fear that M. le Professeur Bazin must have found me an in- 

 attentive listener to his learned exposition of a Greek Play, 

 or some such important matter, for I could not recollect one 

 word of the lesson afterwards. 



"Eh Men?" I enquired on reaching home, "et Voiseau?" 



"Getting on beautifully", replied the old woman, "il a 

 une grande antipathie pour les mouches." 



"Tiens!" I exclaimed, "I should have imagined he would 

 have liked them." I had thought the matter over while I 

 should have been attending to the Professor, and had come 

 to the conclusion that my bird would require insect diet. 



" Au eontraire", replied Marguerite, "he will not eat any- 

 thing else." 



