The Wryneck. 



401 



countries. It arrives in our Island about the latter part of 

 March, or beginning of April, and leaves again in September. 

 It frequents woods, groves, thickets, parks, and gardens in 

 retired situations, where there is an abundance of trees and 

 shelter. 



The Wryneck usually selects, for its nest, a hole in a 

 decayed tree, and roosts there at night time. The nest is 

 a miserable affair, usually made of withered grass, though 

 sometimes of moss, or wool and hair. The hen lays from 

 six to ten glossy white eggs, and incubates about fifteen 

 days. In the spring, the Wryneck associates freely with 

 its own species, but after it has paired repairs to some 

 sequestered spot, and there leads a life of solitude during 

 the breeding season. 



Methods of Capture. — First discover a place which the 

 birds frequent on their arrival in the spring. Then seek 

 out a decayed tree, and in some conspicuous hollow in the 

 trunk place a quantity of soil containing ants and their eggs; 

 the birds will soon discover these, and return for more. 

 After ascertaining that the bait has been visited, replenish 

 the supply, and place a number of limed sticks in close 

 proximity to the orifice. The only other method is to place 

 a quantity of limed twigs around the hole wherein the nest 

 is placed. Old birds are diiBScult to reconcile to a state of 

 domesticity, and must be supplied without delay with ants' 

 eggs, to induce them to eat. Keep them partly covered, 

 for a week or two, in a spacious cage, until they exhibit 

 symptoms of submission and tractability. 



Food and Treatment. — These birds, when at liberty, 

 principally subsist on ants and their eggs, and with them 

 feed and rear their young. They devour other insects, and 

 their larvae as well, but prefer the ants and their eggs when 

 procurable. In captivity, give ants' eggs mixed with Compound 

 No. 1 {vide, p. 189), or the food recommended for rearing 

 Nightingales. A supply of ants, however, must be provided 

 during the period of the moult ; these should be placed among 

 soil, in a flowerpot saucer or similar vessel. 



Bearing the Young. — Eemove when twelve days old, and 

 rear on milk and bread, mixed with ants' eggs; when three 

 weeks old, give a few mealworms ; at the age of one 

 month, place a piece of wasp comb, containing the young grub, 



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