374 BRITISH BIRDS. 



from the surface and from the little chinks and crannies into which it 

 thrusts its long retractile tongue. Numbers of Wrynecks are caught in 

 the south of Europe in autumn for the table with other small birds^ which 

 are generally very fat at that season. 



Although the bird so often hides amongst the foliage or betakes itself 

 to the nearest shelter on the least alarm, its presence in a district is un- 

 erringly made known by its singular note. This cry, which bears some 

 resemblance to the word vite uttered several times in succession, is con- 

 stantly uttered on the arrival of the bird in spring, so loud as to make 

 the orchard or the hedgerow ring again. But as the season advances the 

 note is less frequently heard, and by the end of June it ceases entirely, 

 and the Wryneck becomes not only a solitary but also a silent bird. In 

 many parts of Surrey the Wryneck is known by the name of " Pay-pay," 

 a name which Blyth says has been derived from its Hawk-like note. 

 During winter in the south of France I have observed the Wryneck in 

 small parties in the leafless trees, my attention being attracted to them by 

 hearing their loud quick tapping on the smooth trunks, as rapid as an 

 electric bell. Their alarm-note was a somewhat Hawk -like cry sounding 

 like kik-kik-kik-hik. 



It is very probable that the Wryneck pairs for life. Season after season 

 they return like Swallows to their old nesting- place, even in spite of 

 much persecution and disturbance. On their arrival at their breeding- 

 grounds they are very noisy, crying lustily to each other, especially early 

 in the morning. I have seen a pair in an orchard flying from one apple- 

 tree to another, and at length I watched both birds enter a hole in one 

 of the tree-trunks, in which they had bred the previous year. Dixon has 

 taken its nest from a dead holly-stump on the moors in a clump of these 

 trees, no other suitable place being situate within half a mile. The 

 Wryneck, like the Woodpeckers, lays its eggs in holes of trees. It does 

 not, however, make its own abode, although it often slightly alters the hole 

 which it has chosen. This is often selected in the most exposed situation, 

 not unfrequently in an orchard, and sometimes in a dead stump in a hedge- 

 row. As the bird does not bore its own habitation, the hole varies a good 

 deal in size and depth. Sometimes the eggs may be seen from the opening, 

 at others they are at arm's length down the aperture. They are deposited on 

 the decayed wood at the bottom with no other nest whatever, and are usually 

 laid about the middle of May. They are from six to ten in number, seven 

 or eight being an average clutch, and pure white without any markings. 

 They are not quite so smooth and polished as those of the Woodpeckers, 

 and vary in length from -9 to '8 inch, and in breadth from '67 to -58 inch. 

 They most closely approach the eggs of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 

 but may generally be distinguished by their larger size and less amount 

 of gloss. The Wryneck is one of those birds that by a little judicious 



