Order nr. SCANSORES. 
Family III. Picm^. 
The seventh Subfamily, 
YUNCINiE, or Wrynecks, 
have the Bill short, straight, with the tip acute ; the Wings moderate and pointed ; the Tail moderate, 
rounded, and composed of soft and flexible feathers ; the Tarsi short ; and the Toes moderate. 
YuNX Linn.* 
Bill short, straight, with the culmen slightly sloping to the tip, which is rather acute, and the gonys 
of the lower mandible moderate, and advancing upwards ; the nostrils basal, lateral, partly closed by a 
membrane, and hidden by the frontal plumes. Wings moderate, pointed, with the first quill rather 
shorter than the second, which is the longest. Tail moderate, rounded, and composed of soft and flexible 
feathers. Tarsi short, partly clothed with feathers, but mostly covered with broad scales. Toes moderate, 
the two anterior ones united at the base by a membrane. 
The birds that compose this genus are found in various parts of Eiu'ope, India, and Africa. In the former at least 
they appear when the vernal sun calls forth the ants from the state of hybernation, as the princijial part of theii' food 
consists of these insects and their eggs. They obtain them by removing the earth with their bill, and then insei*ting 
their long extensile tongue, to which the insects adhere by means of a gluten that nature has provided for that 
purpose. They are rarely seen on trees, as their soft tail does not possess sufficient power to support theii- weight while 
seeking their food in such places. The nest is built in holes of trees, and the female deposits from eight to ten eggs. 
1. Y. torquilla Linn. PI. enl. 698. 3. Y. (Pqnatorialis Riipp. Mus. Senck. iii. 121., Ornith. Faun. 
2. Y. pectoralis Vigors, Proc. Z. S. 1831. 93., Mag. tie Zool. von Nord-Ost. Afr. t. 37. 
1835. Ois. t. 33. — Yunx ruficollis Licht. 
* Established by Linnieus in his Systema Natures (1748). 
November, \8^5. 
