10 PICID.E. 



means particular in his choice, as it appears to matter not 

 whether the hole is four or five, or forty or fifty, feet from the 

 ground ; or whether it is deep or shallow, wide or narrow, 

 provided it is only sufficiently capacious for the purpose ; and 

 so indifferent are the Wrynecks in the selection of a situation 

 for their nest, that they frequently place it by roadsides, 

 or where passers by may readily discover the bird sitting 

 on her eggs. 



When these birds have chosen a hole, they take possession 

 of it by cleaning it out, and if the wood is soft from decay, 

 they leave a few fresh splinters as a lining ; but if otherwise, 

 they are satisfied with depositing their pure white polished 

 eggs (usually from seven to ten in number) in the bare 

 cavity without any lining, and after fourteen days the young 

 birds make their appearance. The young remain in the nest 

 until they are fully fledged, and from the circumstance of 

 the parent birds never cleaning the nest, the stench therein 

 becomes very great, indeed so much so, that the nest of 

 these birds might readily be found by any person with their 

 eyes shut. The Wrynecks are so fond of their young, that 

 it is a very easy matter to take the female, either whilst 

 sitting on her eggs, or even after the young are hatched 

 and fledged. The young birds are fed by their parents 

 with ants 1 eggs, or the larvee of other insects ; and if the 

 former should become scarce, small green caterpillars fre- 

 quently constitute part of their food. The food of the 

 adult Wryneck consists chiefly also of ants and their larvae, 

 but towards autumn they will occasionally feed on elder berries 

 in small quantities ; and the manner in which they take the 

 ants is by means of their long tongue, the tip of which is 

 provided with a glutinous substance, to which the ants adhere, 

 and are thus drawn into the bird's mouth ; the ants' eggs 

 are taken up by one at a time, after having been speared 

 by the sharp horny point of the bird's tongue. The Wry- 



