452 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



the natural enemies of their family. The female deposits her 

 eggs upon a bed of moss or the dust of worm-eaten wood. The 

 young birds grow slowly, and receive for a long time the care of their 

 parents. In general they have little voice, and that disagreeable. 

 At breeding-time they frequently employ a mode of communicating 

 with each other peculiar to themselves : they strike the trunks of 

 dead trees with their beaks, and these blows, which are heard at 



a great distance, attract all 

 the Woodpeckers of the 

 neighbourhood. 



Woodpeckers are ge- 

 nerally considered noxious 

 birds, because they are sup- 

 posed to injure the trees of 

 forests and, orchards, and 

 for this reason a relentless 

 war is made against them. 

 They should, on the con- 

 trary, be protected ; for 

 they destroy innumerable 

 insects, the real enemies of 

 timber, and never touch a 

 sound limb, for in it their 

 food is not to be found. 

 There are a great number 

 of species of Woodpeckers 

 known, which are spread 

 over the two continents : 

 Europe possesses eight, 

 seven of which live in 

 France either in a settled 

 state or as birds of passage. The principal are the Ivory-billed 

 W oodpecker (Campephilus principalis, Fig. 176), a native of America ; 

 the great Spotted Woodpecker {Picus major); and the Downy Wood- 

 pecker {Picus pubescens, Fig. 177). 



Wry-necks (Yunx torquilla, Fig. 178) owe their name to the 

 curious property they possess of being able to twist their necks in 

 such a manner as to turn the head in all directions. They repeat this 

 movement every instant, especially when surprised or angry. At the 

 same time their eyes become fixed, the feathers of the head stand up, 

 and the tail expands. Like Woodpeckers, they can hang upon 

 trees, and sustain themselves in a vertical position for a long time 



Fig. 178, — Wry-necks. 



