98 
The difference in the colours of the 
female and young are so trifling from 
those of the male, and the characters so 
striking, that they cannot be mistaken for 
any other species. 
This bird is not at the trouble of forming 
a nest* Jbut lays its eggs to the number of 
nine or ten, in the hole of a decayed tree 
upon the rotten wood. The eggs are 
white, and the shell so transparent, that 
the yolk may be seen through it. 
The Wryneck is distinguished at first 
sight by a habit peculiar to itself; it twists 
and turns its head over its shoulders alter- 
nately, at which time the black list on the 
back of the neck assuming also a twisted 
appearance, gives the same semblance to 
the whole body of the bird. Its eyes being 
half shut, the motion slow, tortuous, and 
somewhat similar to the undulating motion 
of a reptile, from which cause it derives 
its specific name; as likewise the Norfolk 
provincial name of snake-bird. The young 
brood have likewise the same vermicular 
* It is said sometimes to make a slight nest of dried 
grass, and to prefer the neighbourhood of meadows. 
