20 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 
backs and heads of five young birds, evidently full fledged. On lifting one out 
I discovered that it was a Wryneck and promptly put it into a basket, hoping 
to secure the whole family, but as I put the second into my basket the first 
one escaped and another dashed past my hand from the nesting hole. However 
I secured three and got them home safely, put them temporarily into a small 
cage and went down to dinner. Going up to feed them shortly afterwards I 
discovered all three birds sitting together on the back of a chair, they having 
all got through the water-hole of the cage. 
These birds fed greedily on Nightingale food, and when hungry they 
always uttered the silvery shake which had first attracted me to their nest; 
they were very tame and used to run over me, frequently using their tails 
as a partial support, they always moved upwards in little jerks. In a large 
cage the tails were almost always called into requisition, the feathers being 
partly projected through the wire netting as they hopped upwards. 
Towards the end of July the first of my Wrynecks died, and a second 
showed signs of ill-health, but by moving it nearer to the air and constantly 
administering caterpillars (like pills) I managed to prolong its life until the night 
of August 14th, when it also died. The third bird continued to do well, was 
very active and had a healthy appetite; but the long chilly nights in November 
sent it into a decline from which it also died on December oth. 
One curious fact that I noticed with these Wrynecks was that although from 
the first they readily ate the young green caterpillars of the cabbage moth, they 
would not touch the older brown caterpillars until, by compelling them to 
swallow several, they had made the discovery that the colouring had nothing to 
do with the flavour; even then they took the green ones first. 
The call-note of the Wryneck is a sharp whistle, which has been variously 
described as “‘ ute, vite, vite, vite, vite, gut, gut, gui, gut, gut, and pay, pay, pay, 
pay, pay”; but Lord Lilford says it bears a resemblance to that of the Lesser 
Spotted Woodpecker, and a still greater resemblance to that of the young Hobby 
(Falco subbuteo/. 
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