WRYNECK. ZYGODACTYLI. YUNX. 109 
creases to the outer feather, which is wholly white, ex- 
cept a black spot near the tip. Under parts greyish- 
white, with a few dusky spots upon the sides of the 
breast. Legs bluish-grey. Bill grey, darker towards 
the tip. In the female bird, the crown of the head is 
white, in other respects similar to the male. 
Genus XIII. WRYNECK. YUNX, Linn. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill short, straight, conical, and depressed ; the ridge round- 
ed. Mandibles of equal length, sharp, and not emarginated. 
Nostrils basal and lateral, naked, and partly closed by a 
membrane. ‘Tongue long, lumbriciform, and armed at the 
point with a horny substance. Feet with two toes before, 
and two behind; the anterior ones joined at their base. 
Tail consisting of ten soft and flexible feathers. Wings of 
mean length, the first feather a little shorter than the second, 
which is the longest in the wing. 
This genus contains at present three species, and forms a 
connecting link between the cuckoos and woodpeckers ; ha- 
ving the long flexible tail of the former, and approaching to 
the straight bill, and long extensile tongue of the latter. They 
are unable, from the want of the stiff deflected tail, to scale 
the trunks of trees like the woodpecker genus, but the form 
of their feet gives them the power of supporting themselves 
against the tree, while busied in detaching the insects from 
the bark with their tongue. They are often seen upon the 
ground in the neighbourhood of ant-hills, the inhabitants of 
which form their favourite food. 
