296 
Birds. 
THE WKYNECK. (Tunx torquilh.) 
This bird, Mr. Gould tells us, has received its English 
name from its habit of moving its head and neck in 
various directions, and with an undulating motion, like 
that of a snake ; indeed, in some parts of England it is 
called the snake-bird. When found in its usual retreat 
in the hole of a tree, it makes a loud hissing noise, raises 
the feathers of the crown, and writhing its head and 
neck towards each shoulder alternately, with grotesque 
contortions, becomes an object of terror to a timid in- 
truder ; and the bird, taking advantage of a moment of 
indecision, darts with the rapidity of lightning from a 
situation where escape appeared impossible. 
The Wryneck deposits its eggs on fragments of decayed 
wood within a hollow tree, and makes scarcely any nest. 
The birds when caught young are easily tamed. 
