THE WRY-NECK 81 



Description Odd gestures. 



food, which, by the gluttinous matter it contains, 

 and the bird contracting its tongue, it swallows 

 them without ever touching them with its bill. 



Its plumage, in general, is very elegant and 

 curiously coloured; the upper part of the body 

 being variegated with a great many colours, and 

 a beautiful sharp line that runs from the crown 

 of the head along the middle of the back. As a 

 means of distinguishing the cock from the hen, 

 Mr. Uenham has been so curious as to observe 

 that the black line upon the cock runs no far- 

 ther than the upper part of the neck, but that of 

 the hen, he says, reaches almost to the very bill; 

 also, that the cock's belly is naked, as is the hen's 

 when she sits; from whence he concludes, it 

 takes its turn in incubation. The lower part of 

 the belly and the throat are yellowish, with some 

 black transverse lines : the prime feathers of the 

 wings are spotted with large white spots; the 

 rump of an ash colour. The tail is about two 

 inches long, crossed at distant intervals with 

 black, and sprinkled with little dark coloured 

 specks, but does not bend inwards as other woodi- 

 peckers do. The legs and feet are short, and 

 the claws disposed in the same manner as other 

 birds of this kind. 



There is something ridiculously odd in his ges- 

 ture, it frequently turning its head quite back to 

 its shoulders; from whence the ancients have 

 given it the name of torquilla. The body of the 



VOL. iv. NO. 25. L 



