THE BIRDS. 



539 



The Creeper {Certhia familiaris, fig. 1156) runs over our trees in 

 search of insects, but I know little or nothing of its natural history. 



Willi' I 



Fig. 1156. — Creeper. 



Last year the gardener found a young Wryneck {Yunx torquilla 

 fio-. 1157). He placed it in the Poor Man's house, where it soon dis- 

 covered an ant's nest. It devoured all the so- 

 called eggs in a few days, and then died. 



1, m 



Fig. 1158.— Spotted Woodpecker. 



Fig. ti59-— Jay. \'^ n^t. size. 



The handsome Green Woodpecker {Picus viridisS has been observed 

 only once, but the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker {^Picus minor, fig. 1158) 

 has been seen on several occasions. One of the special peculiarities of 

 the green woodpecker is its very long tongue, which it uses as an organ 

 of prehension to take insects. In a street in Paris there were a few 

 years ago two tame birds placed in cages one above the other: it 

 amused me much to see the bird in the lower one craftily attemptnig, 



