PASSEKES. 389 



The Wryneck (Tunx torquilla) is allied to the "Woodpeckers, 

 and makes its nest in a hole formed in a tree like the other 

 Woodpeckers. Its food consists mainly of insects, which it 

 licks off hy means of its long extensile tongue covered with a 

 glutinous saliva 



14. Fasseres or Passeriformes. 



The last remaining group includes the majority of our birds. 

 They have fourteen or fifteen cervical vertebrse, and the second, 

 third, and fourth toes are always turned forward. The brain 

 is more fully developed 

 than in other birds, and 

 the organ of voice is 

 most highly organised. 

 The chief families are 

 the Larks (Ataudidce), 



the Eooks, &C. (Cor- j^^ 194.— Foot of Passerink Bird (Wagtail). 



vidcB), the Starlings 



(StumtdcB), the Finches {FringUlidce), the Wagtails (Mota- 

 eillidce), the Flycatchers {Mvsciaapidm), the Tits (Paridoe), the 

 Swallows (Hirundinidce), the Turdidm or Warblers [Sylviince), 

 and the Thrushes {Turdinae). 



AU these Passeriformes or Perching Birds have thin legs, and 

 the males are usually more brilliantly coloured than the females. 

 The young are nestlings, and are quite blind when hatched, 

 being fed by the parents. Both cock and hen take a share of 

 incubation. Their food and habits, as we shall see, are both 

 very varied. 



