WRYNECK. 



577 



rior webs with quadrangular rust-coloured spots ; the chin and fore 

 part of the neck, yellowish white, crossed with dusky lines; lower part 

 of the breast, belly, and sides, white, with small triangular dusky spots ; 

 under tail coverts rufous white, crossed with dusky lines ; the tail fea- 

 thers are broad, and rounded at their ends, and of the same colour as 

 the back, with four distinct black bars ; legs brown. 



The pen or the pencil can only give a very inadequate idea of the 

 elegant markings of this bird. Its name seems to have been given it 

 from the singular manner of turning its head over its shoulder alter- 

 nately, at which time the black list on the back of the neck, gives it a 

 twisted appearance ; it also erects all the feathers on the crown of the 

 head in a terrific manner. It has been called the emmet hunter with 

 great propriety, that insect being its chief food. The bill of this bird 

 seems to be of little use in procuring subsistence, the tongue being the 

 chief instrument used for such purposes. * The bill is used, on the con- 

 trary, for digging or enlarging a hole to nestle in : with this design, it 

 pulls down a mass of chips and dust of rotten wood from the sides of 

 the hole of some tree, which it selects to breed in.* 



We were enabled to examine the manners of this bird minutely by 

 taking a female from her nest, and confining her in a cage for some 

 days. A quantity of mould, with emmets and their eggs, were given 

 it ; and it was curious to observe the tongue darted forward and re- 

 tracted with such velocity, and with such unerring aim, that it never 

 returned without an ant or an egg adhering to it ; not transfixed by the 

 horny point, as some have imagined, but retained by a peculiar tena- 

 cious moisture, by nature provided for that purpose. While it is feed- 

 ing, the body is motionless, the head only is turned to every side, and 

 the motion of the tongue is so rapid, that an ant's egg, which is of a 

 light colour, and more conspicuous than the tongue, has somewhat the 

 appearance of moving towards the mouth by attraction, as a needle flies 

 to a magnet. The bill is rarely used except to remove the mould, in 

 order to get more readily at these insects ; where the earth is hollow, 

 the tongue is thrust into all the cavities to rouse the ants ; for this 

 purpose the horny appendage is extremely serviceable, as a guide to 

 the tongue. We have seen the poppinjay take its food in a similar man- 

 ner; and most probably every species of that genus does the same. 



The Wryneck makes a noise very much like the smaller species of 

 hawks, which it frequently repeats in the spring, soon after its arrival, 

 which is generally about the middle of April, sometimes earlier in that 

 month. Appearing at the same time with the cuckoo, it has been 

 termed that bird's messenger or attendant. If this bird is surprised in its 



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